Two short points:
1. Guns.
Coincidentally I was just talking about gun rights last night with some friends. Being able to randomly buy assault weapons online with no background check or training is unacceptable, but I fully support the right of civilians to own firearms. In contrast to what Nate proposed, I support concealed carry on all college campuses. Take for example the 2002 shooting at Appalachian School of Law, where a student opened fire, killing three and proceeded to line up a classroom of students on their knees to execute. Two students who witnessed this got their personal firearms and were able to subdue the shooter.
Some interesting points from Students for Concealed Carry on Campus.
2. Objectivism vs Libertarianism
Though it’s sometimes easier to explain Objectivism by equating it with some basic Libertarian principles, Ayn Rand hated Libertarians and "official" Objectivists are reluctant to align themselves with the Libertarian party (especially not small-l libertarians) largely because "libertarianism claims that one can have any (or no) foundation for a theory of rights", the lack of a distinct moral principle behind it (personally, though I find Objectivism interesting and important, I wouldn’t hesitate to say I’m Libertarian-leaning). So no, the Cato Institute is not an Objectivist organization, though there may be Objectivists within it. There is a key moral and philosophical backbone to Objectivism and I really wish people would look at it a bit more before making judgments or generalizations. I wouldn’t say I fully understand all angles of Objectivism (hence the point of studying it), and I venture to say that I doubt anyone making sweeping dismissals of the Cato Institute does either. ;) I kid, but really, they're a smart bunch over there.
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7 comments:
I personally am not in favor of concealed carry on campus. Rampant alcohol abuse on many campuses couples with firearms with deadly consequences for students. I personally feel that college homicides would rise dramatically if such a program was implimented.
Jasmine—I think that while having concealed weapons on campus could help in the relatively few school shooting scenarios, the reality is that in most situations concealed weapons would do more harm than good. In the midst of a chaotic situation there is too much potential for students to get caught in the crossfire, and that is assuming that someone carrying a concealed weapon happened to be in the right place in the right time.
The only other scenario in which I could see concealed weapons benefiting a student would be in situations such as the armed robbery or sexual assaults that have taken place recently on our own campus. However, in each of the situations, the victims emerged unharmed. In the heat of the moment, an available handgun could easily have escalated a situation in which deadly force was not necessary.
College campuses are environments where more harm than good could come from the presence of firearms. Without rules prohibiting the presence of firearms on campus, many more students would be tempted to purchase a firearm. I am a strong believer that young adults are not responsible enough to own a gun, and a campus environment only compounds the problem. The abundance of alcohol and drugs has the potential to lead to dangerous situations caused by a lack of judgment.
The SCCC website puts it well:
Argument: "The college lifestyle is defined by alcohol and drug abuse. Why would any sane person want to add guns to that mix?"
Answer: "This is NOT a debate about keeping guns out of the hands of college students. Allowing concealed carry on college campuses would not change the rules about who can buy a gun or who can obtain a concealed handgun license. Every state that provides for legalized concealed carry has statutes prohibiting license holders from carrying while under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Legalizing concealed carry on college campuses would neither make it easier for college students to obtain firearms nor make it legal for a person to carry a firearm while under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Allowing concealed carry on college campuses would have no impact on the laws regulating concealed carry at bars and off-campus parties, the places where students (particularly students of legal age to obtain a concealed handgun license) are most likely to consume alcohol."
I read that on the website before I posted and completely disagree. Yes they can legally own a weapon, but owning a weapon on a campus full of drugs and alcohol and teens trying to impress each other is different than having a weapon back home in your parents house.
Sure, there are statues against doing drugs or drinking while carrying, but there are laws against people under 21 from drinking and for anyone to be doing drugs. People will do it anyway. I do not know if it is a good thing or not, but underage people will drink/do drugs on and off campus and I think it would be naive to assume that the illegality of an action will be preventative. I would not feel safe on a campus where students are allowed to carry firearms. If this were implemented at American University, I would transfer.
The alcohol and drugs argument asside. I have a problem with this piece of annecdotal evidence being used to prove that concealed carry is a good idea, when statistically it is much more likely that a defensive weapon (if used) will be used against an unintended victim.
Amanda said:
"such as the armed robbery or sexual assaults that have taken place recently on our own campus. However, in each of the situations, the victims emerged unharmed"
Which victim told her that everything is ok now? Sexual assualt? How can someone be sexually assualted and no one got hurt?
What exactly does that mean :no one got hurt? The robber and the person doing sexual assulte weren't hurt so everything is ok? So, no charges filed and no police report because no one was hurt, and everyone on campus feels safe because the criminals steal the money, sexually assault people, but the criminals can keep on doing this because they are not hurting anyone? That isn't logical.
Students aren't the only ones on campus, and commuter students and professors commute, don't they? Did you forget about that?
Visit the cemetary and tell the students there from Va Tech, that it was a good thing none of them had a gun because they might have been caught in the cross fire. Sounds like you don't know what that is. Cross fire is when some one is caught in the middle. None of those students were caught in a crossfire. Why? The cops weren't there.
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