More on concealed carry

Community discusses benefits of concealed carry was the headline from this April 25 story from the Collegian. From the story:

With the shootings at Virginia Tech and NIU, the topic of carrying concealed weapons on campus has been a hot one for students. In response to these events, K-State's Kansas Federation of Students for Concealed Carry on Campus conducted a forum Thursday night to discuss the benefits of carrying firearms on campus.

"People have the right to defend themselves," said Concealed Carry Instructor, Patricia Stoneking. "To post any place as a gun-free zone is to basically pose them as a target."

Stoneking, also a board member for the Kansas State Rifle Association, was one of the four panelists who gave their opinions for concealed carry on campus in front of students, faculty and community members.

Forum participants discussed the issue of school shootings and the amount of concern people might have with carrying weapons on campus.

"People kill people - guns don't kill people," Stoneking said. "There are other things that can be used to kill people - not just guns."

Students for Concealed Carry on Campus was started in March and its main goal is to promote carrying concealed weapons on campus.

"If someone wants to kill people, they can," said Virginia Webb, junior in public relations. "The government can't protect us, and we should be able to protect ourselves."

Webb said she heard about the event through her friends in College of Republicans who are involved in SCCC. Webb said she thought the forum was slightly one-sided because the group was unable to find people to speak about the negative aspects of concealed carry. Though there was a lack of debate, Webb said the event was still beneficial because it raised awareness of the need to have concealed carry on campus.

"I think that anyone who wants a gun can get one legally or illegally, so the people who get them legally are not the ones killing people," she explained.

SCCC president Ryan Willcott said there probably wouldn't have been tragedies at Virginia Tech and NIU had the universities allowed firearms.

"In both of these situations, the shooters came in with plenty of ammo because they knew that no one would be able to defend themselves," Willcott, freshman in business administration, said.

He also said the only reason people carry guns on campus is for self-defense purposes. He related carrying a gun to wearing a seat belt in that people wear seat belts in case of an emergency - he said it's the same with handguns. Willcott said students shouldn't worry about their peers having handguns on campus because they are already surrounded by Manhattan residents who carry concealed weapons every day.

"Just because they know it's now legal on campus, they think they will be freaked out," he said. "They just have to take it in strides and know that they're doing it all over in Manhattan and they just don't know it because it is a concealed handgun."


TK: Let's not forget that not all campus security officers have guns, so perhaps we should first at least make sure campus personnel are equipped to handle an active shooter before we account for concealed carry for students and faculty. Here is another story on concealed carry from the MU Maneater. Here is a link to an April 18 story on the topic:

PRINCETON, N.J. -- Campus police -- not students -- should carry guns.That's one of the recommendations coming from campus law enforcement administrators from across the country meeting at Princeton University Friday.The International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators said most colleges and universities already have police with guns. But some -- including Princeton -- don't.
Participants also said schools should determine whether people on campus are a risk to others