Earlier this year state lawmakers in South Dakota presented a bill that would legally oblige all residents, who were over the age of 21, to buy a gun beginning 2012. This bill was allegedly proposed because they were upset at Obamas health care reform.[1] Somehow that seemed to be a bit appalling to me. I understand that there will always be two sides to a coin. So those who oppose the health care reform should take part in the opposition and help overturn it in the courts. There are plenty reasonable policies that have been mandated on the public. For example, driver’s licenses and vehicle insurance are required for someone to legally drive. However forcing everyone to buy a gun would not be in the best interest of the general public, but only the few. Having a driver’s license and vehicle insurance is in the best interest of greater public safety. I personally don’t feel that anyone should be forced to buy a gun. If someone would want to get a gun then they should go through all the standard procedures to do so. Same goes for someone who wants to drive. However, those who chose not to drive are not required to obtain a driver’s license. There should be strict requirements for obtaining a gun, and if an individual cannot pass all requirements then they cannot obtain a gun. Same goes for motorists, when someone fails a test, they are denied a driver’s license. Though I know people still get away with that and driving tests should get stricter, I’ll leave that to someone else to write about. That’s a whole different issue. I’m not anti-gun, I’m just anti-stupid.
We go south to Arizona where the state has become a leader in the gun rights movement, as it has enacted law after law to protect the public’s right to bear arms almost everywhere. Aside from Arizona, new legislation in Texas, Florida, Nebraska, New Mexico and Oklahoma would legalize the "concealed carry" of weapons on college campuses. “Since the fall semester of 2006, nine publicly funded colleges and one technical college in Utah allow licensed students to carry concealed weapons on campus.”[2] The topic of having guns on campus will be a never ending debate. We will have those who say, that people will think twice about going on a shooting rampage after being denied to take their midterm, because the student standing next to them will have a .45 caliber handgun pointing at them. Well, that’s a reasonable argument. Well what if the only two students that had a concealed weapon (CW) permit were late to class, who’d defend the rest of the class from those two students? If one is a reasonable scenario, then the second one is as reasonable too. If one can happen, the other one can as well. There have been plenty of shootings involving CW permits as the data from “Reported Crimes and Misdeeds by Concealed Weapons License and Permit-Holders” states.[3]
We must also take into consideration who qualifies for a concealed weapons permit. All applicants, aside from many other requirements, must meet a Good Cause requirement. For example, it is reasonable for someone to get approved if they own a business in a bad geographical area. Well, what if I, who is a good citizen with no criminal record and mentally stable, wanted to carry a weapon on campus but couldn’t because, I didn’t meet the Good Cause requirement. Now, I feel that is unfair. How am I going to go about my regular day knowing that there are people around me with guns and I don’t? Now, I want to have a gun to protect me from those who do have a concealed weapons permit. People forget to acknowledge that in this country, maybe others, we are taught to never fully trust someone. Well I’m part of that culture and I don’t trust many of those with a CW permit. If I pass all requirements aside from having a Good Cause, I want a CW permit as well. I know others who fall in my position would feel the same way. With that said, we really have to think about CW permits and whether or not it is safer to have one on or off campus. If we allow CW’s on campuses should we allow CW’s on commercial air flights? Is it reasonable? That is something to really think about.
[1] Web Page: “South Dakota Lawmakers Propose Individual Mandate To Require Gun Ownership.” Huffington Post. February 1, 20011. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/01/south-dakota-individual-mandate-guns_n_816772.html
[2] Dataset: LaPoint, “The Up and Down Battle for Concealed Carry at Public Universities”, Colorado State University Journal of School Affairs, 16. http://www.sahe.colostate.edu/Data/Sites/1/documents/journal/2010_Journal_of_Student_Affairs.pdf
[3] Dataset: “Reported Crimes and Misdeeds by Concealed Weapons License and Permit-Holders.” http://www.bradycampaign.org/xshare/pdf/facts/ccw-crimes-misdeeds.pdf
No comments:
Post a Comment