Concealed Weapons and College Campuses

Staff Writer  

   You sit in class after lunch one day, fighting the urge to doze off. The door opens in the middle of the lecture, arousing your attention. It gets everyone’s attention.

   The out-of-place, fast movements set off your internal alarm.

   Crack. You physically feel the sound in your ears.

   Instinctively, you hit the floor, and chaos explodes around you. Gunshots punctuate the screaming. Your hands shake as you fumble for your cell phone. What’s the campus emergency number? Should you call 911, or will that only reach a city police officer who is even farther away? What if the shooter sees or hears you on the phone? How long will it take police to get there? How many people will be dead when they arrive?

   Will you be dead when they arrive?

   After the rare but highly-publicized school shootings that occurred at Jonesboro, Virginia Tech and elsewhere, many argued that, when properly licensed in their respective states, faculty and students alike should be allowed to carry concealed weapons on campuses to defend themselves from such attacks.

   Currently, twelve universities out of over 4,000 in the United States allow licensed students and faculty to carry their guns on school grounds, but is this the answer?

   “No,” John Kidwell, University of Arkansas—Monticello director of public safety, said. “I don’t want anything that goes ‘bang’ on campus.”

   Proponents of concealed carry on campuses argue that gun-control laws don’t deter criminals, and that if someone intends to carry out a gun crime, state laws and school rules will not stop them.

The Long, Steady Arm of the Law

   In Arkansas, as in most other states, state law prohibits concealed weapons on college campuses. However, many students and faculty across the country are pushing to have such laws and university policies changed. If the state allows them to defend themselves from a deadly threat everywhere else, why should that end where campuses begin?

   “I understand the argument,” Kidwell said. “But if we respond to an emergency, then how do I know who’s the bad guy?”

   Part of Arkansas’ Concealed Handgun License curriculum includes state laws governing where license-holders can and cannot carry and when they can and cannot use deadly force.

   Furthermore, police officers are trained, extensively, to deal with citizens with guns, illegal and legal, in many situations. Any shooting in progress is likely to create confusion, but a law-abiding citizen with a license also knows to defer to police and not play hero. He could simply drop his weapon.

   Plus, a carrier with a gun in the ready position does not necessarily mean he is hostile, and officers cannot shoot someone simply for holding a gun.

   Kidwell’s argument makes sense--if officers arrive while a shoot-out is in progress, but a shooter can conceivably empty his clip, reload, and empty it again in a matter of only seconds.

   Besides, I find it very unlikely that a criminal with intent to murder is going to bother going through the extensive background check, participate in required classroom and weapons training and pay the $150 licensing fee just so he can bring his gun to class to carry out the crime.

Is That a Gun in Your Pocket?

   Kidwell raised another argument with which many opponents strongly identify. “I’m uncomfortable with the fact that there would be people with guns that I didn’t know about,” Kidwell said.

  That may already apply. How do you know, really, if the student sitting next to you in class is carrying illegally?

  Only a small number of people, between 1 and 5 percent, become licensed to carry in shall-issue states, and carriers must be 21 years old or older to apply for a license or purchase a gun. This would mean a very small minority of students would be eligible to carry, anyway.

   Furthermore, proponents argue they should not have to give up their right to protect themselves from harm or death just to make officers’ jobs easier or more comfortable.

   Kidwell said his officers are prepared to deal with an active shooter, although understandably he would not share information about the procedure.

   “I can’t tell you what I’d do, but I can tell you that we train for it, and we have now for over nine years.”

   Once again, this training is only effective with a timely response. At that point, would their goal not be damage control and containment rather than the prevention of injury or death? Are they prepared for any number of contingencies that could arise? At Virginia Tech, for example, the shooter barricaded doors and kept police at bay while he executed people systematically.

   Proponents argue that in a so-called “gun-free zone,” a potential shooter can take advantage of the fact that no one else has a weapon. If students and professors are allowed to legally carry, a shooter can never know when or if he will be met with lethal self-defense.

Stop, or I’ll Hurt You

   College communities often deal with sexual assault. How can a small-framed woman fend off a large, strong attacker?

   Kidwell encourages women on campus to carry pepper spray.

   “It’s much more effective than a handgun anyway, because possibly people would hesitate to use their firearm, of course, even at the point where they’re in danger. So I think people don’t hesitate to use a nonlethal (weapon),” he said.

   However, pepper spray poses problems as well. There is a risk of blowback, where the victim may find herself doused with her own spray. Pepper spray expires, and the sprayers can be unreliable and must be tested regularly to make sure they still work properly.

   Furthermore, a sexual assailant is likely to be deterred at the mere sight of a gun.

   In the event of an emergency, Kidwell recommends simply using a cell phone (provided it was not taken at gunpoint). Students and faculty can call the campus emergency number, 460-1000, from any phone. Even a 911 call from a cell phone on campus will be dispatched to UAM public safety officers.

Illegal Self-Defense

      Commuters who wish to carry a firearm for self-defense understand that under current law and school policy, they cannot keep their guns in their cars. This means everywhere they go before and after school, they cannot have their weapons at all and therefore, those laws and policies effectively extend beyond campus where rights should not be infringed.

   To this, Kidwell offers a compromise: licensed carriers can check weapons at the public safety office, just as hunters often do with their rifles. For some, this is inadequate; after all, how can someone defend himself if his gun is locked up inside the public safety office?

   I understand Kidwell’s argument. I sympathize with those who get squeamish at the idea of strangers they do not know or trust walking around with loaded guns. The risk, however, exists everywhere and at all times, whether or not the law is in place.

   I personally do not carry a weapon nor am I licensed to carry one. However, I am not uncomfortable with the idea of licensed, law-abiding students and professors carrying their guns on campus. In fact, I would be glad to have carriers around who are on the correct side of the law.

   A concealed weapon is not for everyone. Those who are licensed, however, take the law very seriously, or they would not bother getting the license. They also take their own safety and self-defense seriously.

   Unless and until state law and UAM policy changes, we can rest assured that if anyone brings guns to school they will be the criminals and, of course, the cops who may be minutes away. I don’t necessarily want to be forced by policy to wait for help that may not arrive nearly in time.

   So for those who wish to lawfully carry a gun for self-defense, you can check your weapons at the public safety office right along with your Second Amendment rights.

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