Should Guns Be Permitted on College Campuses?
The continued spate of school shootings indicates that more needs to be done to help protect people on campuses. While there is always a chorus of voices who proclaim that guns should be banned, the fact that the Constitution guarantees people the right to bear arms is one that has to be acknowledged. Considering that this right is important to many Americans, one solution is that teachers be allowed to carry guns so long as they pass background checks or have military training. This paper will show why guns should be permitted on college campuses, primarily for teachers who undergo thorough background checks or who have military backgrounds.
Arming teachers is not a novel idea or an unheard of one. In fact, as Shah points out, teachers are already being armed in several parts of the country in response to the escalated through of school shootings. More than 15 states permit teachers to carry guns in the classroom—a law that has been motivated by tragedies like that which occurred at Sandy Hook and Virginia Tech.
In the wake of the Virginia Tech shooting, for instance, many gun advocates called for an end to gun-free zones on college campuses: their argument was that if anyone had been armed, the shooter Seung-Hui Cho, who killed several people that day, would have been stopped in his tracks well before the violence was permitted to escalate (Siebel). The argument against ending gun-free zones on college campuses is that more guns do not necessarily make more people safe: on the contrary they create an environment in which a sense of risk is elevated (Siebel). So which is right—those calling for more people to be armed on colleges, or those calling for fewer guns in general?
The reality is that there is a heightened sense of risk whether or not campuses are gun-free zones: everyone is aware of the possibility that today could be the day a school shooter shows up. There are simply too many people in the world with mental health issues that are not being treated—and mental health is the primary reason school shooters lash out and attack others on campuses (Breggin). One of the main triggers for purveyors of school violence is prescription drugs—specifically selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) medications that individuals are prescribed by doctors whenever they suffer from a mental health problem, such as depression or suicidal thoughts (Kauffman). These SSRIs have dangerous side effects—“more risks than benefits” as Kauffman notes (7). Yet because the pharmaceutical industry is so powerful in America, they continue to be prescribed—and...
Works Cited
Breggin, Peter R. “Suicidality, violence and mania caused by selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs): A review and analysis.” International Journal of Risk & Safety in Medicine, vol. 16, no. 1 (2004): 31-49.
Jenson, Jeffrey M. "Aggression and violence in the United States: Reflections on the Virginia Tech shootings." Social Work Research 31.3 (2007): 131-134.
Kauffman, Joel M. “Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) drugs: More risks than benefits.” Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons, vol. 14, no. 1 (2009): 7-12
Shah, Nirvi. "Teachers Already Armed in Some Districts." Education Week 32.21 (2013):1-14.
Siebel, Brian J. "The Case against Guns on Campus." Geo. Mason UCRLJ 18 (2007):319.
Thompson, Amy, et al. "Reducing firearm-related violence on college campuses—Policechiefs' perceptions and practices." Journal of American College Health 58.3 (2009): 247-254.
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