By Matthew Heggy, Contributing writer
Currently progressing through the state Legislature are several bills designed to allow either open or concealed carry on our state university and college campuses.
The presidents of the 25 state universities, the public safety officers of these universities and many of the student governments and other representative student bodies have come out strongly in opposition to these proposed policy changes. Southeastern’s Student Government Association is no different.
A resolution opposing statutory allowances for concealed carry on college campuses passed the Senate on February 17th, 2011, and was, from there, passed on to our state affiliates and the State Regents for Higher Education.
Concealed carry presents a danger to the campus community, to our freedom of speech and expression and to our public safety officers.
Couple this with the near nonexistence of deterrence from actual crime, and we have a situation that is more dangerous than the one we were in previously.
I would not argue that those individuals with a concealed carry license are dangerous or irresponsible, and I am not arguing that the right to bear arms is not important to the fabric of our American society.
I own a gun, and I, if I so choose, would qualify for a concealed carry license.
What should be abundantly clear to everyone and has been made especially so by those who serve as public safety officers is that it takes an incredible amount of training, far beyond that offered in a concealed carry class, to respond to crisis situations, react in an appropriate manner (with or without force) and to actually pull the trigger.
The NYPD, largely touted as one of the best trained police forces on the planet, had a mere 28.3 percent hit rate in 2006 for shoot-outs with armed assailants.
By passing this legislation, the state Legislature implies that carriers of concealed weapons, with no special training in these fields, are to disarm potentially deadly situations?
Our campus police are charged with our safety. In the event of a shooter on our campus they would respond immediately and without hesitation.
It is their job to enter the situation with the end goal of preserving life, and they will do this by firing on all individuals holding a weapon… no warning, no second chance.
Under the new policies as they are written, and would be passed, there is no way that the university may author or offer any policy governing hours, registration or any other qualification on the carrying of weapons.
This means that no one on campus would know who is armed. We would be sending our campus police into situations in which they did not know who is a “good guy” and who is a “bad guy.”
In such a situation, where everyone is armed, the chance of accidental shootings could increase exponentially.
Finally, and most important to consider, is the effect that these measures will have on our free speech.
What is college for?
It is for challenging the status quo, it is for being presented and understanding new ideas and new points of view, it is for arguing and bickering, and it is for experiencing new and exciting opportunities.
Even the campus itself supports this notion, by hosting colleges, high schools, community events, plays, concerts, open forums and a plethora of other events designed to share knowledge with people of all ages.
What does a gun do? When you know an individual is armed, even when they are a member of a police force or a government agency, do you act the same as you do normally?
Let’s be honest: most people do not. This is the effect that an intimidating object can have on a room full of people, to chill discussion and discourse to the point of silence.
Universities will not grind to a halt, people will still earn their degrees, they will still go on to lead happy and productive lives, but these last vestiges of intellect and free spirit will lose some of their luster. They will lose it to fear.
It is for these reasons that your universities and student governments stand stalwartly against these policies.
Our safety and our security both physically and spiritually depend on our understanding that these policies and those like them do not demonstratively reduce the amount of violence or crime, and certainly not enough to sacrifice the culture that we hold dear.
The bottom line is this: Policies regarding safety should, as their end goal, create a safer environment, and nothing about allowing concealed carry on our college campuses will further this cause.