"Crime warrants concealed carry"

From the University of Akron student pub:

By Brint Hahn
Issue date: 4/22/08

Crime on and surrounding the University of Akron has become more and more casual during the last year. There's also no doubt in my mind that it will continue to increase as the weather becomes nicer, as most crime does. What kind of environment would encourage such a bold crime? An environment full of people who are legally unable to protect themselves. That's what Students for Concealed Carry on Campus is trying to change. The current legislation requires that students with concealed carry permits leave their weapons locked in their car during class time. This would prevent any student who walks to campus from carrying their weapon at all, because there's no car to leave it in. These students face the most risk. The area around campus is flat-out dangerous. Personally, I would never consider walking or even driving around campus housing unarmed, and I never do. Car-jackings have become as popular as robberies. I choose to protect myself because armed citizens are an extremely effective deterrent. There is nothing a criminal fears more than a citizen willing and able to protect themselves. Our group, SCCC, is attempting to pass a legislation that would allow students who have concealed carry permits to carry their weapons on campus so they have the ability to protect themselves, as well as other students.Shootings, such as Virginia Tech, were premeditated attacks. The location was not random; it was chosen because it was a target-rich environment. A classroom is a large group of people in one place who are legally unable to protect themselves. We would like to change that. Before you go jumping to conclusions, we do not propose that every student should be armed. We are simply trying to allow those students who are licensed by the State of Ohio to carry a firearm to protect themselves at school just as they can at the mall, in their home or at the grocery store. If I'm able to carry my firearm at the grocery story, why not the classroom? I fail to see any difference between the two - except the fact that, under the current legislation, a classroom is comprised of people who are unable to defend themselves, whereas a grocery store is not.Who wouldn't like to see a drastic decrease in crime around campus? One thing can make that happen. It doesn't involve the police, it doesn't involve campus "patrol" and it doesn't involve security cameras or metal detectors. It will take one student who is armed and able to defending themselves against an attack. When the headline reads "Mugger shot by student in botched robbery attempt," I can guarantee you that the next mugger will think twice before targeting a student on their way home from class.