Gunslingers on Campus

Gun violence is a deeply disturbing part of life in America.  A person is twenty times more likely to get shot in the U.S. versus the rest of the developed world.  Mass murder by gun toting mental deficients has become a regular part of the news cycle in this country.

Now, we have states like New Hampshire, Colorado,  and Arizona passing laws that allow college students to come to campus packing heat. College is a place where immaturity, poor judgement, and boorish behavior are the rule rather than the exception.  A few years ago, a student went nuts at Virginia Tech University and killed 32 people.  

I don't own a gun. I have no wish to own one.  In principle, I don't object to people owning guns as long as they are subject to a reasonable level of regulation.   Of course, no such thing exists in the United States. The NRA has politicians scared shitless about supporting any kind of gun control. 

I enjoyed my time as a college student.  With one exception, I was never aware of or even thought about the threat of gun violence while at Kansas State or the University of Washington, the two places I spent my college days.  What I do remember about those days, particularly as a college freshman away from home for the first time, was a lot of stupid, even reckless behavior, and a lot of emotional immaturity. In that atmosphere, ready access to a gun opens the window to easy solutions to conflicts with other students or even within one's self.  Add a lot of drinking and drug experimenting to the mix,  having ready access to a gun just makes no sense. 

I would never attend a university where students were encouraged to come to campus armed wth handguns; any kind of gun for that matter.  I would not feel safe in such circumstances.

In 2012, the Supreme Court of the state of Colorado ruled that students must be allowed to come on campus armed, overturning a ban put in place by the regents of the University of Colorado in Boulder.  More recently, a dropout from the University of Colorado shot up a movie theater, killing seven peiople and wounding many more.

A gun can be lethal in an instant.  College is supposed to be about learning, not gunslinging.

Here is a link to an article by a University of Texas student  that reflects on guns on campus...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lara-grant/keep-colleges-free-from-g_b_1733198.html