The Pros And Cons Of Concealed Carry

Concealed carry is the practice of carrying a weapon in public in a concealed manner, either on one’s person or in close proximity. In the United States the history of modern concealed carry started with Georgia. In 1976 Zell Miller, state lieutenant governor, introduced what became the model for later laws and his effort was inspired by the National Rifle Association. From here on, Georgia joined a handful of states allowing concealed carry, which started a trend and every state began to pass different laws according to their own state regulations. As a matter of fact, carrying a concealed handgun in public has been permitted in all fifty states since 2013, but some states require gun owners to obtain permits while others have “unrestricted

Michael Rosenwald, a reporter from The Washington Post, says, “Campus carry advocates argue that the best way to stop mass shootings at schools and elsewhere is for armed law-abiding citizens to open fire on attackers” (Rosenwald). Most students’ fear that armed students will pull their guns out during class or in meetings with professors and open fire, but opposing students believe that in a situation of that manner, they can protect themselves along with their surrounding classmates due to being prepared and armed. The on-going question college campuses argue is: Would students and faculty be safer if everyone was allowed to carry a gun, or would minor altercations turn into disasters? Current policies encourage faculty and instructors to give students the option of playing dead or huddling under desks, but this hasn’t gotten us far in the past. Wayne LaPierre, an American gun rights lobbyist, speaks his voice on the issue through The Trace, which is an American journalism outlet devoted to gun-related news in the United States. LaPierre reveals the unfortunate truth that it is unpredictable where evil may strike, but he retaliates in this notion affirming that students can be safe regardless of their location. “And if God forbid a monster should walk onto this campus, that evil will be met with the one indisputable fact of liberty: that the surest way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun” (LaPierre). This is to say that college students deserve self-protection, as does anyone in the real world. Another argument mentioned with this concern, is the accretion of sexual assault performed on campus grounds. Furthermore, Students for Concealed Carry [Director of Public Relations], David Burnett, argues, “crime rates on college campuses have risen in recent years, and statistics show that there are nine sexual assaults reported on college campuses each day” (Burnett). For this