Imagine you are a college student, sitting in class, and the only worry you have is whether you passed or failed the quiz you just took. Imagine waiting for the bell to ring so you could get out of class and just relax. What if I told you there was something else you had to worry about? Now, imagine getting out of class and a gun being held up at you. How would you react? Many college students have been put in this exact situation. Nowadays,  more and more college shootings have occurred over the years, because of guns on campus. Everyday, students are injured or even murdered by gun usage on campus. It is absolutely inane that guns are allowed on campus. Ever since weapons have been allowed, students and teachers’ lives have been put in danger. Therefore, teachers and students should not be allowed to carry concealed weapons on college campuses for reasons that go beyond safety.

To begin, having weapons on a college campus changes the environment of the college. Max Snodderly, a neuroscience professor, believes that allowing guns on campus is a bad idea, as well as an “encroachment on academic freedom” (Hennessy-Fiske 2). This is an intrusion on a person’s rights because it causes the student to lose their freedom of education. By having guns at school, students are not able to focus on their academics, and consequently, will begin to worry about their safety.They will wonder who has a gun, who does not. Similarly, Daniel Webster, a John Hopkins co-director of Gun and Policy Research believes that introducing guns to campuses will create “a potentially combustible situation, given the prevalence of alcohol and drug abuse among college students” (Palazzolo 1).  In other words, considering the alcohol and drug abuse among students, adding guns or concealed weapons to the mixture, will risk the safety of students even more. As a result, allowing guns will have a detrimental effect on the campus and completely change the environment.

Furthermore, not only do guns change the learning environment, they provide more violence. The more guns there are, the more violence there is. It is the same concept as fighting fire with fire, it does not end well. For instance, recently at the Northern Arizona University, a small argument lead to death because guns were present. NAU police chief, Gregory Fowler, said that the incident began as a “confrontation between two separate student groups” (Gass 1). Gregory Fowler also comments, “The confrontation turned physical when of our students...produced a handgun and shot four of our other students” (Gass 1). If the students had not been provided with concealed weapons, the issue could have been resolved easily. But, since they had access to guns, the issue ended in fatal injuries.Consequently, guns have caused more and more shootings to occur. According to the text, shootings this year, “...left one dead at Texas Southern University and 10 dead at a community college” (Hennessy-Fiske 2). Guns add on to the violence at campus, making for an unsafe environment. Some may argue that guns provide protection for students, however, what they do not comprehend is the danger of guns. Samantha Burtch, a college student herself, says, “It’s far more likely that a man is going to take that gun out of my hand and use it against me than it is likely to do me much good” which is absolutely true (Jones 2). A young student, has no advantage by having an extra gun to another, probably more experienced gunman. The gunman is far more likely to use both guns.

Ever since guns have been permitted on campus, news stories involving shootings have sprung up throughout the United States. Recently, a shooting spree at Umpqua Community College occured. According to the article, a  shooting spree “...left nine people dead, in addition to the gunman, and seven wounded” (Gass 1). If guns were not present, this shooting would have never occurred. No one would have had access to guns, ending the problem. Furthermore, shootings have occurred for the past 50 years, all because of concealed weapons. A “mass shooting” occurred at the University of Texas at Austin, which “...left 14 people dead and 32 wounded” (Hennessy-Fiske 1). Guns have been a problem since the beginning of time, which is another reason why they should not be at college campuses in the first place. Consequently, a shooting happened about 9 years ago. At Virginia Technology, “...33 people, including the gunman, were killed” (Jones 1). Guns have caused so many issues, way before they were on campuses. Why should we risk the students lives, when we know guns already cause problems?

  Lives of teachers and students are put into danger because of concealed weapons. Therefore, they should not be in a learning environment. Not only do they affect the environment, but they add more violence, and result in school and campus shootings all over the country. Having guns on campus, leads to many negative ramifications. We have created a situation that needs to be rectified. Imagine if we did not allow guns on campus. Now, imagine sitting in class, as a college student, and actually being in a safe environment.

Imagine, not having a thing to worry about besides that one quiz you took. Does that not sound like a much better situation? Students nowadays do not get that privilege. We should not give students such a high burden, of carrying guns. Instead, we should assign specific security guards to defend the campus. Why are we risking the lives of our students?