Georgia has legally recognized that eligible 21-year-olds may be trusted with the responsibility of carrying a concealed weapon. This holds for most public areas as well as consenting private establishments, such as bars and churches.
College campuses, however, are an exception; people ordinarily allowed to carry a firearm are prohibited from doing so. This restriction applies to more than just the student body; it also affects non-student employees. Students and employees alike are deprived of the opportunity to defend themselves merely due to their vocations.
This omission would raise few concerns if campus security could vigilantly monitor every inch of school and prevent any emergency, but this is impossible. Many college campuses in the state are spread out over several square miles and are interwoven with surrounding municipalities. In addition, several high-traffic roads go in and out of campus boundaries, and there are few, if any, defined points of entry where security can monitor people coming onto campus property.
At the University of Georgia, for instance, campus police do an adequate job of making students and faculty feel safe. But “feeling safe” is not equivalent to actual security — as UGA students and employees undoubtedly realized during last semester’s shooter scare (which thankfully proved to be a hoax). Feelings of security can evaporate as quickly as sweat in the Georgia heat. A well-trained adult with a concealed carry license is not so easily waylaid.
Even greatly expanded security measures could not stop every disaster. Our civil society has always maintained a careful balance between the rights of law-abiding citizens and the powers of police charged with protecting them. This balance should not be dismissed for law-abiding citizens who happen to spend most of their day on a college campus.
We do not suggest that concealed-carry permits be handed out imprudently. Students would have to complete the necessary and lawful steps toward procuring the right to carry a gun.
By allowing concealed weapons on campus, we would promote safety and discourage acts of violence that might otherwise prove fatal. Although the national media most often focuses on the negative side, concealed-carry laws have saved lives in this country. Beyond that, it is apparent that the people with guns who pose a risk to public safety are not those with concealed-carry licenses.
An average of around 100,000 firearms-related deaths occur annually in the United States. But only .246 percent of those deaths are related to citizens who legally carry concealed weapons. That number should be a wake-up call to those who say more guns equals more violence. It is simply not the case.
The paranoid imagination of anti-campus-carry activists suggests legions of irresponsible (inebriated?) college kids will start having shootouts in dining halls. Recently, a student acted dangerously with a weapon at UGA, which seemingly would support the argument against concealed-carry on campus. Thankfully, no one was hurt. One irresponsible kid among hundreds who would obey the law does not make their right to self-defense invalid. But it does prove dangerous individuals do not abide by the law.
The facts suggest the allowance of concealed weapons for college students would be even safer than the same allowance for the general public. Polls indicate lower interest in guns among college-aged students. This ought to dispel worries centered around the image of thousands of undergraduates toting pistols around campus. Weapons will be held by only those serious about self-defense..
Given that a large number of students on campuses are not yet 21 — the age required to purchase a handgun and apply for a carry permit — potential candidates for a permit would be filtered even further. College students who apply for and receive a carry permit, especially at a place like the University of Georgia, would most likely be students who have grown up around guns and possess the responsibility and respect carrying a firearm demands.
The intent of the law prohibiting campus carry is to prevent the type of mass shootings that have occurred on college campuses over the past decade. But the facts of those cases do not support the notion that keeping guns out of the hands of responsible students could prevent such a tragedy. Alternatively, we could restore to students and university employees the right to self-defense.
Cole Calfee is a sophomore studying marketing at UGA, while Seth Daniels is a senior studying political science. Both are staff writers with The Arch Conservative.
