Earlier
this week the Kentucky Supreme Court announced its decision on a
case with several state schools about the debate over having guns on
campus. The article
(http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20120426/NEWS01/304260111/Kentucky-Supreme-Court-says-universities-can-t-ban-guns-staff-student-vehicles-campuses?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|News
) sparked comments about the issue after a graduate student at UK was
fired when a semi-automatic pistol was found in the glove
compartment of his car. The Court announced the decision on
Thursday that gun bans on campus mess with the Constitutional right
to bear arms. Some are calling this decision a victory for
gun-owners, while several colleges are saying that they were thinking
of the safety of the students and faculty on campus when it comes to
these rules.
The
ban on carrying firearms in a vehicle is being contested by many who
don't agree with the ruling, since they believe that means
they aren't allowed to carry a weapon at all.
What
do you think about the Kentucky Supreme Court's decision on this case? Should
the schools be allowed to protect their students and faculty
unchecked, or should all weapons be banned on campus? Is there some
way the two sides of the argument can coexist?
This is a tough issue because there are two sides. I do not have a firm opinion in one side or the other. I think the Supreme Court was right in their decision because if they had ruled for the ban they would be violating the second amendment. But it is morally right to allow gun to be hidden in cars of whoever has a permit? Accidents occur all the time and an accident, even if out of anger, is the main concern because anyone who would actually want to kill someone will be able to find a gun no matter if they are banned or not. Allowing guns on campus is good for stopping a serial killer but halting accidents is another question. Statistics show that people who own a gun are more likely to be shot. The chance of a serial killer is way lower than the chance of a gun related “accident.” So I think guns should be banned on campus unless you are a member of the police force. We have better alert systems and security. Also if someone is a mass killer and they have a gun in their car before they kill, a security member could see the gun but be legally obligated to let him pass by. I think that policeman would feel really guilty if many people died because he let the killer pass.
ReplyDeleteI think that each side has a very valid argument. I think that under the second amendment that you should be able to bare arms, but i also think guns should not be able to have guns on campus because it raised the possibility of a shooting even if that is the intentions of the person with a gun. This also brings up the argument that plenty of people carry guns in their car or on their person outside of campus, for self protection that will never result in a shooting, but there needs to be some line to be drawn. There is no way to see if the person is going to use the gun for self defense or if it could have the possibility for being used for a school shooting. This is a hard line to be drawn, and i don't think that there is much that police can do, and i believe that until this line is drawn, it should be a law guns should not be allowed on campus.
ReplyDeleteI don't believe guns have a place on college campus. I can't think of any reason it would be necessary to carry a gun in your vehicle. If the Court had ruled the decision the other way, I would have been surprised. Banning guns on college campuses is going to be a pretty difficult rule to enforce. Guns are so easily stashed and will not be able to be found unless there is reasonable suspicion. Its not something I think about everyday, living in the city. I never really think about who can have a gun and how many people can buy guns-- the numbers are huge. Any legal citizen of the United States over eighteen years of age has the ability to purchase and own a gun. Permitting anyone to carry a gun on a college campus would be absurd. I think rather than allowing people to carry guns in order to feel protected, universities should set up other security measures. On the contrary, I do think it was a little ridiculous that UK fired the graduate student, also an employee at the medical school, for having a pistol in his glove compartment of his car. I wonder if this will become a trend, and be initiated into other universities in the near future?
ReplyDelete