The Great Debate the Pros and Cons of Guns in the Classroom
The Great Debate The Pros and Cons of Guns in the Classroom
Throughout its history, the United States has had a fascination with guns. Americans have used guns in times of war, for protection, and for hunting. Americans also use guns when they are intent on killing people. When violence happens in school shootings, drive-by shootings, assassination of public officials, or in the workplace and shopping malls, Americans demand something be done. This demand fuels the debate between gun rights and gun control activists. It fuels the debate over the interpretation of the Second Amendment. It fuels the debate on allowing citizens to carry concealed weapons in gun-free zones. This makes us ask the question: Should guns be banned from college campuses? Two recent college campus massacres have triggered a renewed interest in this debate. On the morning of April 16, 2007, a deeply troubled young man named Seung Hui Cho used two pistols to murder thirty-two students and faculty members, as well as killing himself, at Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, Virginia (Feldman 284). The second incident happened on February 14, 2008 at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois. The twenty-seven year old gunman, Steven Kazmierczak, walked into a lecture hall with three handguns and a shotgun and fired fifty-four rounds from the weapons. He fatally shot five students and himself and wounded sixteen others (Goldman). These two incidents have brought the gun control vs. the gun rights debate back to the college campuses. The heart of the debate focuses on whether allowing concealed weapons in a college classroom setting can save lives if a similar catastrophe happens again. Activists across the United States are joining forces to make their voices heard. One such group, Students for
Concealed Carry on Campus (SCCC) advocate that students who are concealed handgun license holders should have the right to carry these concealed handguns into university buildings. In
Throughout its history, the United States has had a fascination with guns. Americans have used guns in times of war, for protection, and for hunting. Americans also use guns when they are intent on killing people. When violence happens in school shootings, drive-by shootings, assassination of public officials, or in the workplace and shopping malls, Americans demand something be done. This demand fuels the debate between gun rights and gun control activists. It fuels the debate over the interpretation of the Second Amendment. It fuels the debate on allowing citizens to carry concealed weapons in gun-free zones. This makes us ask the question: Should guns be banned from college campuses? Two recent college campus massacres have triggered a renewed interest in this debate. On the morning of April 16, 2007, a deeply troubled young man named Seung Hui Cho used two pistols to murder thirty-two students and faculty members, as well as killing himself, at Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, Virginia (Feldman 284). The second incident happened on February 14, 2008 at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois. The twenty-seven year old gunman, Steven Kazmierczak, walked into a lecture hall with three handguns and a shotgun and fired fifty-four rounds from the weapons. He fatally shot five students and himself and wounded sixteen others (Goldman). These two incidents have brought the gun control vs. the gun rights debate back to the college campuses. The heart of the debate focuses on whether allowing concealed weapons in a college classroom setting can save lives if a similar catastrophe happens again. Activists across the United States are joining forces to make their voices heard. One such group, Students for
Concealed Carry on Campus (SCCC) advocate that students who are concealed handgun license holders should have the right to carry these concealed handguns into university buildings. In
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