No need to pack heat on campus
Published: Sunday, January 30, 2011
Updated: Sunday, January 30, 2011 14:01
Seeing as UCF is a public university, our school is permitted to set up rules and regulations that its students must follow while simultaneously following guidelines for all universities enacted by the state of Florida.
For the most part, we feel that the university's rules are realistic and befitting to the college lifestyle without being too stringent.
One major stipulation that applies to universities across the Sunshine State is the total ban of guns on campus, but it's quite possible that could change in the near future.
In December, Sen. Greg Evers, R-Baker, filed Senate Bill 0234 and if passed, it would allow students to bring concealed weapons to campus and permit those with a concealed weapon permit to carry their guns openly.
Evers and others who support the bill believe that allowing students to have guns would serve as a protection mechanism against robbers or criminals who target college students knowing that they're unarmed.
Others cite incidents like the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007, arguing that the gunman could have been stopped if other students had been armed.
We understand the logic behind these arguments and safety is a huge concern on campuses all across America, but we do not agree.
Guns are extremely dangerous weapons and more than once have we seen incidents where young lives are taken due to carelessness.
It was only a few weeks ago when Florida State University student Ashley Cowie was accidentally shot and killed while a fellow FSU student showed her the accessories he'd recently purchased for his rifle.
On top of that, students aren't trained to handle shooter situations and adding another gun into the mixture could make the situation even more volatile.
A courageous student may step up in that type of situation hoping to be a hero, but instead end up killing innocent bystanders if his or her aim isn't on spot or if they don't know how to properly negotiate with the shooter.
Students shouldn't feel scared while on campus, but there are ways to combat that fear without buying a gun.
UCF offers self-defense classes, which some argue is even more effective than a weapon when it comes to protecting yourself.
There's also the Safety Escort Patrol Service, especially for students who would prefer not to have to walk around campus alone and several emergency buttons located around campus if a student needs police or medical assistance.
With all these measures, we simply don't believe guns are necessary on campus and think that allowing students to carry them into class, at football games or otherwise could cause more harm than good.
Shooting incidents like the one that occurred at Virginia Tech are extremely rare, and we don't believe students should be armed in preparation for rare incidents like that all the time; it can only create paranoia and fear.
In fact, we feel that if students knew several of their classmates had guns it could create uneasiness in the classroom and may even prevent students from coming to class.
Simply put, school is a place for learning, not weapons.
We're not the only ones with this sentiment — currently Utah is the only state that allows guns on campuses and that's the way most campus police and officials prefer.
"You have young people still learning how to be adults, and unfortunately alcohol and drugs are part of that equation on campus," FSU Chief of Police David Perry said in an interview with the Miami Herald. "This is a place of learning and nurturing and you shouldn't be put in a position where you feel intimidated by someone walking around with a gun."
Guns may be able to provide extra safety for those who have the exceptional skill and knowledge pertaining to firearms, but that does not reflect the majority of students on college campuses.
There are many alternative ways to protect yourself without carrying around a loaded weapon.
If, however, the bill is passed, we hope politicians require colleges to have a database of all the students and staff carrying weapons on campus as well as provide them all with gun safety and protection classes.
23 comments
Eric
First there is no bill in Florida that allows CWP holders to carry openly in Florida kinda defeats the purpose. I think you mean the G liscense holders while performing duties as a contracted security gaurd. Secondly I agree that just throwing more guns into the mix is bad as well....but just the thought of going into a classroom that could potentially have students carrying would deterr most bad guys! As far as the training goes a shootout is orginized chaos with people running trying to avoid getting shot, some freezing, and others thinking that this is the end! Why not train all students not just CWP holders but everyone in emergency response tactics.........like hey kids if a shooter comes in here take COVER and don't run aimlessly especially in the line of fire from the possible armed student trying to help! I saw this outcome even in the military during training soldiers get tired and scared and do the wrong things, but that is why we train. If students want to carry in Florida why not have the NRA and the State get together and come up with an intense training course on emergency situation responses that would simul;ate the weopons qualifications for the G liscense which is more intense that the 4 hour NRA safety course. Train the class with particular emphases to things like backstops, misfires, pereferal vision use, and above all before shooting back take COVER. Heck I'll devise the training myself if you all want me to. This state truly does not have stringent enough training requirments for concealed carry on campus needs to be a seperate liscense with seperate training requirments. IF anyone from the state governments are reading this you can make more money by doing it this way seperate training and liscense fees WOW you could probably afford more law enforcement that way and not have to keep cutting back!
Anonymous
"Our stance" has every right to not carry a concealed weapon on school campuses. They also have every right to think it's unwise for students to do so. However , they become petty tyrants when they try to use the aggressive violence of the state to throw people in cages if they exercise their right to peaceable carry a weapon. What Our Stance "feels" is irrelevant to the debate. I illegally carried a concealed weapon most every day when I went to UCF. It was my right to do so despite what the "law" was. Nothing bad happened. Is it Our Stances' stance that peaceful people such as myself should be thrown in cages for carrying out a human right? Apparently so-what MONSTERS-what little Mao's.
Adam C.
As a person with a Concealed Firearms and Weapons permit, I can carry my handgun to the grocery store, to get my haircut, to the movies, to the bridal show this past weekend, to withdraw money from my bank, etc. I am trained and know to only use my weapon in self defense.Why is a school so different than these other locations?When I walk on campus, do I suddenly become some maniac hell bent on shooting the first person that disagrees with me in class? Nope.Do I suddenly decide that the first person to steal my parking spot deserves to die? Nope.Do I suddenly start foaming at the mouth at the first sight of alcohol? No, I don't.There is nothing inherently different about a University and every other location I go to throughout my day. Just because I've entered the grounds of the campus does not mean my right to defend myself should be taken away.
Anonymous
Yeah these chicken litles want to cry about the on average 77 people per school who may be licensed to carry out of 4,300 institutions.By default then these chicken littles sure be able to identify those that already carry concealed.So lets see how many police reports and prosecutions show how effective these chicken littles are at identifying who is carrying concealed today,( HINT THE CRIMINALS!)Come on, lets see it as we wouldn't want anyone to correctly point out your rabid hypocrisy of claiming a fear when you can't even identify those who carry concealed to begin with!
Anonymous
So we see 700k doctors kill 44k to 98 k per year per JAMA Medical Malpractice report 2001 or .065 to .14 deaths per doctor.We see 8 million cpl licensee's (BATF) in a horrifically accurate VPC report 2009 (blatant liars) can only claim 137 deaths attributable in their own undefended claims over a 3 year time frame or 45 a year average for .00000562 deaths per licensee.That means .065 or .14 / .00000562 = 12,000 to 25,000 times more likely a doctor is to kill you than a person carrying concealed, you should ban doctors right?
Anonymous
Yeah, lets compare a privlege against a right, the way only an anti gun moron can, enough said eh?
BambiB
Are we at last brought to such a humiliating and debasing degradation, that we cannot be trusted with arms for our own defence? Where is the difference between having our arms in our own possession and under our own direction, and having them under the management of Congress? If our defence be the_real_object of having those arms, in whose hands can they be trusted with more propriety, or equal safety to us, as in our own hands? -- Patrick HenryJust substitute "the police" for "congress" and you have a Founder's Quote brought up to date.UCF's policies are very much like those that worked so well at Virginia Tech during Cho's rampage. Before you decide students should not be allowed to carry firearms for self-defense, consider these FACTS.1) Cho murdered two people in the early morning hours.
2) About two hours later, the police were still on campus investigating, when Cho started his main assault. The police arrived within 3 minutes of a 911 call, but they were too late to engage Cho. In 9 minutes, Cho had shot 60 people, killing 30 of them. That's one dead and one wounded every 18 seconds.Try this thought experiment: You're sitting in a classroom listening to a lecture. Suddenly, the door to the classroom swings open and a man with a pair of handguns enters and begins shooting. Every 18 seconds someone in your classroom is going to die, and another person is going to be wounded. The shooting isn't rapid-fire. It's methodical. The shooter doesn't have some super-whiz-bang-mega-capacity magazine. He's just using standard handgun magazines. He has plenty of time to shoot, and shoot, and shoot and reload, and shoot some more because NO ONE in the classroom can resist. The guy next to you stands up to try some crazy martial arts move - and takes a bullet in the face for his trouble. Unless you're REALLY close, all that "self-defense" stuff won't do you any good against a gun. The best defense against a person with a gun is another person with a gun. Right now, you're cursing yourself because you did everything you could to keep law-abiding citizens from having guns on campus. You're confused, because this guy (who has shot 6 more people in the time you've taken to read this) isn't playing by the rules!Now he turns towards you. Your bowels loosen and your crap your pants. He's point the gun right at your face. You're crying. You're groveling on the floor, pleading for your life. You're in a cold, trembling sweat as his eyes lock onto you and you picture the bullet boring into your face, shattering your skull and burrowing into your brain. Time slows down. You can see the gunman squee-e-e-zing the trigger... **BOOM**But you're still alive? How can that be? The gun was pointed straight at your face. There wasn't any flash? Are you dead?Now you see that the gunman is slumping towards the floor. A large red splotch has appeared on the side of his head, and his eyes, suddenly unfocused, no longer bore into you.He's dead.One of your classmates - one who didn't buy the propaganda about the evils of guns for self-defense - one who broke the law to provide for his own defense, and yours - has just dispatched the threat.You are safe. You will live. So will dozens and dozens of other students in the hall.
The student who saved your life and the lives of so many others, will face prosecution and almost certainly be expelled by an administration that values rules over lives.You think about how you tried to prevent guns from being on campus. You realize you were a complete fool. Bad men don't follow rules. The only people you disarmed were law-abiding citizens - the sheep dogs that watch over the sheeple and protect them from wolves.You feel like an idiot. A very grateful, very confused idiot, but still - an idiot. Think you'll oppose the lawful carry of firearms on campus again?No? Well, maybe even an idiot can learn.
2) About two hours later, the police were still on campus investigating, when Cho started his main assault. The police arrived within 3 minutes of a 911 call, but they were too late to engage Cho. In 9 minutes, Cho had shot 60 people, killing 30 of them. That's one dead and one wounded every 18 seconds.Try this thought experiment: You're sitting in a classroom listening to a lecture. Suddenly, the door to the classroom swings open and a man with a pair of handguns enters and begins shooting. Every 18 seconds someone in your classroom is going to die, and another person is going to be wounded. The shooting isn't rapid-fire. It's methodical. The shooter doesn't have some super-whiz-bang-mega-capacity magazine. He's just using standard handgun magazines. He has plenty of time to shoot, and shoot, and shoot and reload, and shoot some more because NO ONE in the classroom can resist. The guy next to you stands up to try some crazy martial arts move - and takes a bullet in the face for his trouble. Unless you're REALLY close, all that "self-defense" stuff won't do you any good against a gun. The best defense against a person with a gun is another person with a gun. Right now, you're cursing yourself because you did everything you could to keep law-abiding citizens from having guns on campus. You're confused, because this guy (who has shot 6 more people in the time you've taken to read this) isn't playing by the rules!Now he turns towards you. Your bowels loosen and your crap your pants. He's point the gun right at your face. You're crying. You're groveling on the floor, pleading for your life. You're in a cold, trembling sweat as his eyes lock onto you and you picture the bullet boring into your face, shattering your skull and burrowing into your brain. Time slows down. You can see the gunman squee-e-e-zing the trigger... **BOOM**But you're still alive? How can that be? The gun was pointed straight at your face. There wasn't any flash? Are you dead?Now you see that the gunman is slumping towards the floor. A large red splotch has appeared on the side of his head, and his eyes, suddenly unfocused, no longer bore into you.He's dead.One of your classmates - one who didn't buy the propaganda about the evils of guns for self-defense - one who broke the law to provide for his own defense, and yours - has just dispatched the threat.You are safe. You will live. So will dozens and dozens of other students in the hall.
The student who saved your life and the lives of so many others, will face prosecution and almost certainly be expelled by an administration that values rules over lives.You think about how you tried to prevent guns from being on campus. You realize you were a complete fool. Bad men don't follow rules. The only people you disarmed were law-abiding citizens - the sheep dogs that watch over the sheeple and protect them from wolves.You feel like an idiot. A very grateful, very confused idiot, but still - an idiot. Think you'll oppose the lawful carry of firearms on campus again?No? Well, maybe even an idiot can learn.
Anonymous
Children should not be permitted to write such drivel like this opine.
Anonymous
Children are not permitted to carry concealed weapons in Florida. The age limit is 21, so this would limit the number of students qualified to carry on campus.
Aaron
What's the difference between a police officer carrying a gun and a student carrying a gun?The cop won't go to jail for shooting someone.Ordinary citizens know that if they were to shoot someone, they had better have a damn good reason. We aren't afforded the same protections as a police officer--someone who is entrusted to "protect and serve" the community--so therefore we can't just shoot anyone that we perceive to be dangerous, as the Central Florida Future would have us believe. Police officers are given absolute immunity, meaning that because they are public officials they are not held accountable the same way you and I would be.So before you go off spouting that we're not trained enough to carry guns and protect our fellow students, I would take a look at who has a more vested interest in feeling safe here.
Anonymous
Perhaps the people against it should share where there's been problems with CCW holders on campuses that do not prohibit it. You would think that would be easy with all the fantasy scenarios thrown about by those who want to continue the restrictions.Strange how none seem to be able to come up with any times this is a problem where CCW is permitted.
Anonymous
Since we're on the subject of car safety, think about every IDIOT DRIVER on the UCF campus. Now, imagine them with a gun.Enough said.
Anonymous
I agree that there are plenty of alternative ways to protect yourself without a gun, but the fact of the matter is, there are crazy people in this world. And if a crazy person comes into a classroom and points a gun at me, I think I'd need more than some sort of defense class to walk out alive. Guns are a part of our lives; if they weren't this would be a lot easier just to ban them and move on. But the fact is, that will never, ever happen. So if we ban guns or prohibit them from responsible people, we are only enabling the crazy people who will still acquire guns if they want them. Don't think that's realistic? Consider how drugs are illegal yet still very prominent in the US. We need some reformations, but I am getting tired of seeing all these examples cited about the "responsible" gun users having accidents. People have car accidents every day and kill people by accident, but we aren't banning cars yet.
Anonymous
If you're going to attempt to use a defense spray to defend yourself against an armed assailant, you���d better hope you bought one of the concentrated formulas that doesn���t take ten to fifteen seconds to begin working. You���d also better hope that the assailant is standing in close proximity to you and that you are in a well-ventilated location where you won���t find yourself overcome by the effects of the spray before you can escape to safety. Like handguns, defense sprays are banned on most college campuses.If you're going to try to manually disarm an assailant, you'd better be within an arm's length of the assailant, be standing on firm ground, have no obstacles between you and the assailant, and be in relatively good physical condition. If the assailant is standing four feet away, you're probably out of luck. If you're sitting in a chair or lying on the floor, you're probably out of luck. If there is a desk between you and the assailant, you're probably out of luck. And if you're elderly or disabled, you're probably out of luck. Even a well-trained martial arts expert is no match for a bullet fired from eight feet away. Why should honest, law abiding citizens be asked to undergo years of training in order to master an inferior method of self-defense?
Anonymous
This hasn't been an issue with concealed handgun license holders in other walks of life for several reasons. First and foremost, real-world shootouts are typically localized and over very quickly. It's not realistic to expect police to encounter an ongoing shootout between assailants and armed civilians. Second, police are trained to expect both armed bad guys AND armed good guys���from off-duty/undercover police officers to armed civilians���in tactical scenarios. Third, concealed handgun license holders are trained to use their firearms for self-defense. They are not trained to run through buildings looking for bad guys. Therefore, the biggest distinction between the armed assailants and the armed civilians is that the armed civilians would be hiding with the crowd, and the armed assailants would be shooting at the crowd.
Anonymous
for those who feel that law enforcement training is so superior . . .Police officers do not spend four to five months learning to carry concealed handguns for self-defense; they spend four to five months learning to be police officers. Concealed handgun license holders are not police officers; therefore, they have no need of most of the training received by police officers. Concealed handgun license holders don't need to know how to drive police cars at high speeds or how to kick down doors or how to conduct traffic stops or how to make arrests or how to use handcuffs. And concealed handgun license holders definitely don't need to spend weeks memorizing radio codes and traffic laws.Contrary to what some opponents of concealed carry might claim, concealed handgun license holders don't need extensive tactical training because they are not charged with protecting the public���It���s not their job to act like amateur, one-man SWAT teams. All a concealed handgun license holder needs to know is how to use his or her concealed handgun to stop an immediate threat of death or serious bodily harm, and that type of training CAN be accomplished in a few hours.NOTE: In some states, such as Texas, the shooting test for a concealed handgun license differs very little from the annual re-qualification test for police officers.
Anonymous
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.
Anonymous
I put the belt on hoping that I will never have to use it, but I know that should some unforeseen event occur, it will be there to save my life. It is attached to a device that has the power to kill any and everyone with a little pressure on a lever. All I had to do to get this power was sit in an office for a few hours, take a test, and they handed me my license. I am talking of course about my car . . . Now onto example number 2:The idea that mass hysteria will break out and detract from the learning environment because one or two students in a room are legally carrying a handgun is preposterous. Ask anyone in a ���right to carry��� state when he or she last noticed another person carrying a concealed handgun. The word 'concealed' is there for a reason. Concealed handguns would no more distract college students from learning than they currently distract moviegoers from enjoying movies or office workers from doing their jobs.In most states with ���shall-issue��� concealed carry laws, the rate of concealed carry is about 1%. That means that one person out of 100 is licensed to carry a concealed handgun. Therefore, statistically speaking, a packed 300-seat movie theater contains three individuals legally carrying concealed handguns, and a shopping mall crowded with 1,000 shoppers contains ten individuals legally carrying concealed handguns. Students who aren't too afraid to attend movies or go shopping and who aren't distracted from learning by the knowledge that a classmate might be illegally carrying a firearm shouldn't be distracted from learning by the knowledge that a classmate might be legally carrying a firearm.
Anonymous
It takes 3 hours and 1 shot to get a license. It takes law enforcement over 720 of police academy training, go through hiring process which includes an in depth process to be looked at. If you are not employed but still have the trainning, you are not able to carry a gun. Once employed it is up to the department where you can carry outside your jurisdiction on or off duty. Once you retire, you have to qualify once a year to carry as a retired officer. Having a permit does not you require you to train for a life time. Law enforcement is required to at least train at least once a year. Law Enforcement can't be under the influence of a firearm. Who regulates possesing a firearm and drinking for the permit holder?
Anonymous
Patrick, there are about 800,000 Floridians licensed to carry concealed weapons. They all had to undergo training to receive the license. Hundreds of thousands of people are carrying guns in Florida every day without any issues. So what magically changes and suddenly makes it too dangerous when you step onto a college campus?
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