Campus Shootings

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In the recent years, the shootings as a result of confrontations that have occurred at U.S colleges and universities have led to heated debates on whether students, administrators and professors should be allowed to carry concealed guns or not. Whereas some analysts have continually defended the opinion that guns should be allowed on college and campuses grounds, majority have nullified any single idea of having concealed weapons on campuses as this is a direct threat to the security of everyone around. For the safety of students, bills meant to allow public colleges and universities to allow hidden and loaded guns on campus should not be passed.
Allowing guns on campuses would simply be altering
the role of a higher education institution facility which is strict for learning. The main aim why students join colleges and campuses is to get education, specialize in their respective career fields and make friends. A college is a not an army training ground where people should be allowed to carry weapons for fighting each other (Dahl, et al., 3). In other words, the function of a college should remain strictly for learning and not a warzone. Other than just the building and many individuals, American colleges and universities occupy a very special place in the society even at a global level. Therefore, the culture of education and peaceful interaction can be interfered with should students, administrators and workers be allowed to possess guns on the campus compound.
Most students are not yet mature enough to own a gun.
As Dickerson Darby states in the article Students Should Not Be Allowed to Carry Guns on College Campuses, “Although most traditional-age college students appear to be physically mature, their brains are still developing,” students should not be allowed to carry guns to campus. Neurologists have backed up this statement by confirming that college students have dubious decision-making abilities. According to recent students on the cognitive abilities a student, the frontal lobes – areas in the brain which are responsible for decision-making – may not fully be developed for most students. The thirty year mark is the ideal age for a well-developed brain and considering the fact that most students are in their twenties, being allowed to carry a gun can pose a direct threat to their peers should a disagreement rise between them and the university administrators rise or
lecturers.
Concealed weapons on campuses pose a great threat to the security of students and a distraction of the learning process.
There is no safety guaranteed for school officials and students to have guns at the campus. In fact having concealed guns in colleges and universities have increased shooting incidences throughout the country over the recent years. According to Dickerson Darby there have been many tragedies that have been directly linked with allowing guns in campuses. The most recent are the tragedies at Virginia Tech, Northern Illinois, Appalachian School of Law and the University of Huntsville on February 2010, among others that have illustrated the danger that guns on campuses pose to innocent people. In Isla Vista, California, Elliot Rodger, 22, went on rampage on a Friday night shooting and killing three random people. This and many more other cases just show how dangerous guns can be on colleges and campuses.
Supporters of guns on campuses argue that every American citizen, students included, has a right to carry a concealed firearm which is part of the Second Amendment rights Dahl et al., 5). They claim that colleges and campuses are just part of the many places that people can be allowed to walk around with their guns and that there is nothing strange about it. But if gun proponents are dedicated towards maximizing security like any other citizen, decisions that make guns proliferate should be
addressed.
In conclusion, guns on college campuses is such a sensitive issues that has drawn the attention of specialists, education as well as security experts to try and get a lasting solution to this issue. Whatever position gun lobbyists and supporters take, gun on campuses would not only risk the security of innocent people as it has happened in the past, but would also change the function of a higher education institution. Therefore, to prevent future incidences of shootings on colleges and universities it is imperative that guns are outlawed on these institutions.

Works Cited
Dickerson, Darby. "Students Should Not Be Allowed to Carry Guns on College Campuses." Guns and Crime, edited by Christine Watkins, Greenhaven Press, 2012. At Issue. Opposing Viewpoints in Context, link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/EJ3010015253/OVIC?u=hayw93983&xid=78166915. Accessed 15 Feb. 2017. Originally published as "White Paper—Guns on Campus," NaBita.org, 17 Feb. 2011.
Dahl, Patricia P., Jr., Gene Bonham, and Frances P. Reddington. "Community College Faculty: Attitudes Toward Guns On Campus." Community College Journal Of Research & Practice 40.8 (2016): 706-717. Academic Search Premier. Web. 15 Feb. 2017.