Yikes ... those darned Texans are at it again...

[SDGuy]

I assume the push behind this is in reaction to Virginia Tech, and other similar school shootings.

Even so, I'd be a bit wary of letting college students be armed on campus - but if the real impetus is to have responsible, armed individuals around, how about allowing faculty members (who have jumped through the hoops required to get a CCW permit) carry concealed? This is assuming that said faculty members are mature and responsible enough to do so safely - they certainly couldn't do any worse than some security guards I've seen...

[PeterB]

Pam wrote:
[quote=cbelt3]


Are our children's generation just so effing insane that we have to protect them from themselves ?

Yes. And protect others from them. The younger generation doesn't settle arguments/disrespect the way we did.
Unfortunately, Pam speaks the truth.

It used to be that if you were a girl and you'd been dumped, you'd cry, get over it, and eventually move on. Now, you take your ex's photo, label with all sorts of demeaning stuff, and plaster all over the internet. http://forums.macresource.com/read.php?1...sg-1090639

It used to be that if you were a boy and you had a picture of your hot gf half-naked, you might show it to your closest guy friends to brag. Now, you take your gf's pic and text it to 200 of your closest friends, including the whole football team: http://forums.macresource.com/read.php?2...msg-620069

[Mac1337]

cbelt3 wrote:
dak- so that's your rationale for thinking that allowing guns on campus is a bad thing ? :confused:

It was sarcasm. I guess I didn't succeed.

[Uncle Wig]

Consider which students would be most likely to get a gun and bring it to school. There may be a few who take it seriously and know what they're doing, but I have no doubt the most of them would be doing it just to be cool. Yeah, a dorm full of drunken, well-armed, untrained college students seems like a swell idea!
:confused:

[Mac1337]

Uncle Wig wrote:
Yeah, a dorm full of drunken, well-armed, untrained college students seems like a swell idea!
:confused:

Same was said about concealed carry. Mad motorist engage in shoot outs in traffic jams. If you put your power of imagination into what criminals with guns would do we'd be a little safer.

[RgrF]

cbelt3 wrote:
Pam-
Thank you. I'll agree with that point. Good one. I had not considered it.

The whole 'diss' / 'revenge' cycle and casual violence common in the urban youth culture is a shame in our society. It was, of course, in existence in my generation among urban youth, but not as extreme as it is now.

My thinking is obviously colored by my rather beige suburban existence.

Just think of what it could have descended to had those unfortunate Kent State students and their (at the time) very pissed-off friends been packing.

Flooding campuses with handguns, campuses that are already alcohol and drug fueled is the height of idiocy. If you want your student armed enroll him/her in a military academy.

[rankandfile]

I haven't made up my mind on this issue. A rigorous training course for a concealed carry permit is essential, in my view.

I remember wondering how things might have been different at Va. Tech if those professors had been armed. OTOH, I can't reconcile the idea of widespread use of guns on campus.

These gun statistics are from 2006:

Annual Gun Homicides

Finland 17
Australia 35
England and Wales 39
Spain 60
Germany 194
Canada 200
United States 9484 (plus almost 20,000 other gun-related deaths)

United States Firearm Homicide Rate (Adjusted For Population)

— 5 times that of Canada
— 10 times that of Finland
— 13 times that of Germany
— 19 times that of Australia
— 24 times that of Spain.
— 44 times that of England and Wales

http://www.bradycampaign.org/xshare/Fact..._FINAL.pdf

[Lux Interior]

Supporters of the legislation argue that gun violence on campuses, such as the mass shootings at Virginia Tech in 2007 and Northern Illinois in 2008, show that the best defense against a gunman is students who can shoot back.


I would agree that a sane person would not go on a shooting rampage if they knew they may likely face an armed opposition.

Now we can forget that argument, because sane people don't typically go on shooting rampages. They either plan to get shot by the police or eat the barrel if they get trapped.

After the shootings on the VT campus, the usual arguments were given that armed students would have prevented the tragedy. My counter argument was that it would be more likely for untrained students to shoot each other.

Fast-forward to the Giffords shooting in AZ. read this:

http://www.slate.com/id/2280794/

So, you hear shots and you have a gun. You arrive at a scene and see someone holding a gun (a civilian). You have no experience or training. What do you do?

[OWC Jamie]

RgrF wrote:
[quote=cbelt3]
Pam-
Thank you. I'll agree with that point. Good one. I had not considered it.

The whole 'diss' / 'revenge' cycle and casual violence common in the urban youth culture is a shame in our society. It was, of course, in existence in my generation among urban youth, but not as extreme as it is now.

My thinking is obviously colored by my rather beige suburban existence.

Just think of what it could have descended to had those unfortunate Kent State students and their (at the time) very pissed-off friends been packing.

Like Terri Norman and of course some of the drug dealers that carried for protection but probably were smart enough not to hang around ?
.

I'd prefer all campusses were gunfree zones - at least pills can be pumped out in time sometimes. Including and especially dorms.
Gun clubs can exist off-campus in most instances, and should.

[rankandfile]

Thanks for that link, Lux.