I'd keep it at just guns. Guns are simply unfair: your target is dead in the blink of an eye. There's too many histrionic people - not just nutjobs, people - that can seriously hurt someone on impulse with those things. Guns are like having the infinity plus one weapon in a video game on the first level. Other weapons? Not the same. I go to a university and have to stay in a lab until late at night and then go home by myself sometimes. Then I hear about some chick who got raped out on the street and that does not settle my nerves so well. Mace or pocket knives aren't like guns. When you have to work to hurt somebody that's different than a gun.
I'm going to post an excerpt from a blog I wrote about why I left the "Condolences for Virginia Tech" Facebook page just days after the shootings: "Anyways, I joined a group created to share condolences with those affected by the Virgina Tech shootings, only to find it overran with inconsiderate scum pushing agendas that these events wouldn't have happened if students at VT were allowed to "peaceably possess firearms". Are you fucking kidding me? First off, who has the nerve to turn a group created to share thoughts and prayers with the victims and their affected families and friends of this massacre into a gun rally? Secondly, that's the most asinine idea I've ever heard. Creating a school of 26,000 vigilante students wielding guns does not prevent violence, it only increases the chance of events like this occuring again. And who's to say that this shooter wasn't a student from on campus? Yeah, providing potential lunatics like the shooter with guns is a brilliant idea. I could not stand to be surrounded by such idiocy, so I left. I am appauled by the inconsiderateness and nerve of some people who take advantage of tragedies like this to try to rally support for their personal agendas. Would you not be incredulous if someone came out and said in the wake of 9/11 that regular passengers should be allowed to carry weapons on board planes to prevent terrorist hijackings? Then again, judging by the amount of intelligence portrayed by some people, somebody probably already has."
It might not have been immediately post-9/11, but I have heard people claim (without a hint of sarcasm) that air travel would be safer if people carried guns on planes. Because, as we all know, firing a gun on an aircraft is a great idea.
Yes because the solution to stop someone getting on a plane with a gun is to put someone on a plane with a gun.
If you paid attention to what I've posted, instead of refreshing your brain as your browser does, you would have read that dangerous people carry guns anyway. Dangerous people carry guns anyway. Dangerous people carry guns anyway. Someone with the intent to harm someone, will carry a gun onto campus, regardless of the law. As for the airplane matter, leave it in the bag, in no way accessible to any passenger.
What this boils down to is that people within a society are unpredictable, and living in an unpredictable society means that bad things occasionally happen. You can't prevent every tragedy from occurring, and trying to accomplish that impossibility only leads to more problems. I can't see how allowing students to carry handguns on campuses, regardless of whatever regulations and background checks are implemented, makes those campuses safer places. It creates opportunities where people take it upon themselves to be vigilantes, wanting to be the glorified hero on the news. It's a dangerous road to travel down. If you want increased security, hire more security! Beef up your video surveillance and respond effectively to incidents where aggressive tendencies are prevalent in a student. Think of it this way. It is arguably just as much a tragedy to have a vigilante gun-toter accidentally kill an innocent bystander while trying to stop a gunman. At least that could have been prevented by not allowing students to carry guns on campus. I'm sorry Handyman, you seem to be alone in your opinion on this matter.
That was unnecessary. Please try taking your own advice, though... it's only been gone over about a million times already.
Dangerous people will shoot at people anyways even if there's no gun laws. Dangerous people will shoot at people anyways even if there's no gun laws. Dangerous people will shoot at people anyways even if there's no gun laws. Dangerous people will shoot at people anyways even if there's no gun laws. Dangerous people will shoot at people anyways even if there's no gun laws. Dangerous people will shoot at people anyways even if there's no gun laws.
I'll say it again, since it's the most fucking obvious piece of evidence that carrying guns doesn't help. Australia and America are very socially similar. But we don't carry guns everywhere. We have less shootings. It's pretty fucking simple guys.
Pretty much. And how pervasive are violent crimes on college campuses, anyway? As far as I know, the average U.S. college campus is pretty safe.
Carrying a gun = Dangerous. So not only do you have outlaws being dangerous, you have law abiding citizens being dangerous. I do NOT trust "law abiding citizens" anymore than I do someone "known as mental." Emphasis on the "known as." How do you find the people who aren't known as mental before they kill someone? We don't have psychic checks. Nor are NORMAL people any safer. The average communications major at my university goes to the bar 15 times per month. The five random freshman roommates that were randomly assigned to me were having a dramafest before fall quarter's end. The fact is that histrionic, angry people do NOT think their actions through before committing them. They will not stop and go "oh there might be someone else with a gun" and then lose their temper. They will lose their crap first and then get their own gun out and shoot the person they're mad at. A campus full of guns would only discourage someone through an atmosphere of fear. That same fear would propel people to buy more guns to protect them from people who legally have guns, and it would continue to get tenser and tenser until something pops. And when that thing pops, you will have more bullets flying around than ever, and a net loss of more people. I rather have my tragedies containing a dozen people than a thousand. This is a serious lack of thinking this thing through. Repeating the same thing over and over is more denialism than rational thinking.
If I see people risking an increased chance of danger by carrying concealed firearms, I usually shoot them. It's worked out pretty well so far.
No its ok, I'm alone on the forums, but not IRL. And thats okay, the point of this thread was to offer insight and get everyone thinking anyway! I've gained insight and shared by side of the argument, and will continue to do so. 'Beefing up security' with surveillance and whatever, this truly would be the best choice, more police? Of course, problem is its a public university, and the economy is already in the crapper, security would be nice but so is enhancing education. It's a little more complicated than 'guns are dangerous'.
Seems like unnecessary accidents would occur, I'd rather have schools hire more security so that students can focus more on what they're supposed to be doing i.e. learning not worrying about nut jobs shooting up the school. Also maybe colleges should start screening incoming students with psychological evaluations or at least offer free therapy for all students at risk.
I couldn't agree more, if this were a matter of simplicity there would be no debate! And I certainly where many of you are coming from, I just see things a different way.
With all due respect, I don't see a debate. I usually try to respect others opinions, but I just can't see how anyone can be on board with letting every kid at school having a gun. I'm sorry.
On a forum of younger, presumably (especially according to the political compass thread) liberal forum, yessir this is so. But in real life, on a more conservative minded campus, it is a debate. I'm not even sure how seriously it was being proposed, I just saw it in the campus paper, but it was worth discussing with a few of my friends.