Students, Professors, and Staff should not be allowed to Carry Concealed Weapons to Campus.
Over the recent past, school shootings have been on the rise with innocent students getting killed. There have been arguments that this can be prevented by allowing students, staff, and professors to go to school with concealed weapons. Reason being, they can help fight crime before the relevant authorities arrive at the place. On the other hand, critics argue that allowing guns in schools is a bad idea since many activities such as debates, where student’s differences get highlighted and often stress levels tend to rise in such situations. Allowing students to carry concealed weapons will prove dangerous as students may harm one another because of disagreements. Taking of concealed weapons to campus should not be allowed because it will cause more harm than good.
There are some of the reasons why concealed weapons should not be carried to schools by staff, students, and professors. One is that in case of an incident whereby homicidal fanatic bursts into a school hall and starts shooting at students, most likely many students will be caught in a crossfire between the attacker and those students or members of staff with concealed weapons which are trying to fire back at the shooter. Students may get injured and some of them even killed during the crossfire. Moreover, on the arrival of the police, they might not be able to identify between the attacker and the “good guys” and may even shoot at students and staff therefore causing deaths of innocent people.
Many events happen in campuses such as debates and sports. Discussions, in most instances, get so heated such that the air around it gets tense as the students highlight their differences on various issues. By allowing students to carry concealed weapons to school, the school will turn into a dangerous place such that, students may kill one another in instances such as disagreements in debates (Webster et al., 1604). Lecturers may even be scared to award students bad grades, that’s if the student deserves that, mainly because they fear being gunned down by the armed student. Learning cannot be effective in a tense environment and therefore carrying concealed weapons to school will do us more harm than good.
Schools are meant to be neutral zones, and therefore, students, as well as staff, should not be allowed to carry weapons. Schools should be territories that are solely neutral and rather than allowing faculty and students to carry concealed weapons; other options should be considered such as setting up security checks and developing crisis response strategies to minimize terrorism (Borum et al., 27). Students should be protected from any harm or danger in a way that does not damage them psychologically. A student may have to live for the rest of his or her life with the guilt of killing someone at such a young age if at all they are allowed to carry guns and forced to use them for protection and kill someone in such situations. Therefore, in turn, lead to more harm than good, and therefore, students should not be allowed to carry weapons to school.
In conclusion, as much as proponents argue that staff and students should be allowed to carry concealed weapons to school, critics disagree, claiming that this will cause more harm than good. Some of the reasons behind opposing this are because, if a shootout happens in a school and students get involved in a crossfire, many may get injured or even killed. Furthermore, on the arrival of the police, they may not be able to differentiate between the good and the bad guys. Students may also harm themselves in case of differences that may arise from activities such as debates. Schools are meant to be neutral zones, and therefore, no weapons should be allowed there.
Works Cited
Borum, Randy, et al. “What can be done about school shootings? A review of evidence.” Educational Researcher 39.1 (2010): 27-37.
Webster, Daniel W., Patricia S. Gainer, and Howard R. Champion. “Weapon carrying among inner-city junior high school students: defensive behavior vs. aggressive delinquency. “American Journal of Public Health 83.11 (1993): 1604-1608.