Guns on Campus

While we all grieve for the students at Northern Illinois University and their families and friends, we need to see an even greater catastrophe in the making. And that is the pro-firearm bills proposed after the Virginia Tech shootings and that are now gaining strength (12 states are currently considering such bills) as a result of the NIU killings. This is total insanity. The idea that if students, faculty, and staff were allowed to carry firearms on campus that they would be able to protect themselves from another attack is absolutely crazy! This is a position that seems to have no valid argument in its support. It is a position that can only lead to more campus killings.
There is no evidence to support the idea that more guns equal greater safety. In fact, the very idea is absurd. Homes that have guns experience a greater number of killings than homes without guns. Schools would be no different.
The argument that gun permits would be required which would then lead to only the peace-loving students, faculty, and staff having guns is equally absurd. There is no way that any reliable test can be administered to people requesting permits that would effectively distinguish those who would kill others as at VT and NIU and those who would only defend themselves and others.
If I were teaching argumentation and debate or persuasion I would ask students to construct a speech in support of the pro-firearm position. I would hope that if they learned anything in the course, they would not be able to construct such a speech—at least not one with valid arguments, evidence, and even a semblance of logic.