Looking into the past never tells us much. We can forever look back and ask how things could have turned out differently, but it does very little to help us. What might have happened if someone in the classrooms at Northern Illinois University or Virginia Tech had been given the opportunity to cut short, or even prevent, the murderous rampages that took the lives of innocent students?
We need to start weighing our options on college campuses. We need to realize that text messages from Ball State University and a few extra police officers are not going to make us all that much safer than we were yesterday or a year ago. Let's start thinking about real solutions that can occur at that moment and potentially save lives.
I am talking about concealed carry on campus. That is, putting guns in the hands of responsible students to try to cut short the actions of the next Cho Seung Hoi or Steven Kazmierczak. In the past few months, several Facebook groups have appeared on each side of this issue. There are those that see it as borderline insanity to actually permit guns in a classroom. There are also those who see this as a potentially life-saving measure. The time to think is over. Now is the time to act.
In one of my classes, there are four students with military experience; one is a veteran, and three are currently in either the Army or National Guard. All three of these individuals have training in firearms and have experience in life-and-death scenarios. I, personally, would very willingly entrust any one of them to carry a pistol with them to class, just in case.
I believe the tragedy of the NIU shooting, while it was considerably smaller in scale, was much scarier to BSU students than the VT shootings last year. These are our neighbors. It very easily could have been us all over the news that evening. It hit closer to home and really got people in a different state of mind.
I absolutely do not feel that any student who has a gun permit should be allowed to have a gun on campus. I am talking about giving those who would like the responsibility a chance to make a difference.
Our society has become so litigious, so bent on taking any problems to court, that there may be major complications to this plan. If there were a shooting on campus and someone entrusted with a concealed weapon had not taken action, the potential legal implications are enormous. With this kind of power would also come enormous pressure. No single person should have the burden of holding the entire class' lives in their hands.
I am not saying that concealed carry on campus is the solution. All I am saying is that we need to have the conversation about this. We can't keep putting this off. We should not wait until the next (and there will most certainly be more) school shooting before we take another look at this issue. Text message alerts and emergency plans are all well and good, but we need more concrete solutions. Is putting guns in the hands of responsible students the answer? It might be. All I know is that every day we don't talk about it, the next tragedy is getting closer.
Write to Alex at apcarroll@bsu.edu
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