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Running head: Concealed weapons

Concealed Weapons in the

Universities
Aimee Burciaga
The University of Texas at El Paso

Concealed Weapons
Abstract
Today gun policies have become very controversial especially in Universities. The decade of the
2000s the number of school shooting sky rocketed according to research from (EVERYTOWN
for gun safety, 2014). School across the United States fight daily to either keep the guns on or
off campus both with the idea of protecting each other. Weekly there is at least one school
shooting which causes injuries or deaths, this is the reason policies are going into change. The
idea is to keep the campus safe, some believe that allowing students to carry weapons will be
helpful yet facts are proving it wrong.

Concealed Weapons
Introduction
Universities all over the United States are being divided by policies of whether they
should allow weapon inside the campus or not allow them at all. Guns can either bring safety
during a shooting or be the weapon used to start the shooting. These scenarios come from the
high number of shootings that have occurred lately. Congress which is in charge of passing and
reviewing laws and policies have passed a law that will be active starting 2016 to allow the
college students to carry guns for protection. This decision is very controversial as some
students oppose it by expressing their fear of having a non-authority carry a weapon. There are
ways to support the law and other helpful tools to oppose it as well. Statistics show the rise of
both shooting as well as the number of gun owners (Pew Research Center, 2015).
University shooting
This year has been hectic for many students and their families, there has been 23 out of 45
shootings on college campuses alone this year (Time, 2015). Each shooting had either people
injured, dead and others had both. Allowing students to carry weapons may be very risky, some
students may have guns that dont belong to them or that may have been bought illegal.
Concealed weapons are not seen by other students and the intentions for bringing it on campus is
also unknown. Shootings occur for a reason, each reason is different and each shooter has a
reason why they commit such hideous crime. The most popular reason why thus happens is
known by the law system as hate crime. A hate crime is a crime which is done when the
aggressor is against or dislikes a specific idea, feature, background belief or race and uses them
as a target. Other reasons why school go through shootings may be cases may be caused by
bulling which has become very common being the leading reason for shootings. The point is that

Concealed Weapons
these crimes are unfair to the students and many lives are ended due to these reasons that they are
innocent.
Gun Ownership
The image on the right of the paper shows how
common guns are in comparison with a soda. Now a

Figure1: Image shows easy

access to guns

days getting a gun is so easy almost any person can do

this. Gun ownership is serious and there are certain
laws which one has to abide to. Laws such as having
a license, being of the legal age and situations in
which it can be used have to be known by the owner (Universe, 2015). Using a gun to commit
hate crime or a shooting are reasons why they should be prohibited. Proper handling is
suggested when owning a gun and bringing it to a campus may cause legal problems.
Self defense
There are not only students who oppose guns on campus there are also some rather allow
bring their guns for protection. Students claim that if they undergo a shooting having a weapon
can stop the shooter from killing defenseless students. The problem begins with the criteria of
self-defense being met. In order for the hero which would be the gun owner that stops the
shooter to go unpunished if he/she kills the aggressor claiming self-defense may cause trouble.
The criteria for self-defense has to be ad direct threat, no means of help around, being in a place
with no open door or windows and when the ability to move is not reliable (Self-Defense Zone,
2004). Although a student or staff with a gun might want to help getting in trouble with the law
may be a consequence. Campus Police are trained the same way as a city police officer to

Concealed Weapons
protect each student and staff member from fatalities like those that have occurred on other
campuses.
Fatality Rates
In the United Stated there has been 23 University shootings out of the 45 which have
occurred this year. This means that about half of the shootings occur in the university alone
more than the: elementary, middle school and high school. The image provided shows how
each state has the University laws on concealed
weapons (Consulting, 2013). The majority of the
county rely on the school to decide whether guns
should be allowed or not. This means that many
campuses can take initiative and decide if they allow
or ban the weapons. Organizations such as Armed
Campuses allow students to petition online to try to
make guns legal. On the other hand organizations
Figure2: Image shows how each
campus stands on weapons.

like the Campaign to keep guns of campus also do

petitions to prevent guns from entering the campus

(The campaing to keep guns of campus, 2015).

Future Policy
In the year 2016 congress is looking forward passing laws to allow weapons on all the
universities across the country. The bills passed will take effect on August 1, 2016. The new bill
will allow students over 21 that have a gun license to bring it to school and have it locked inside
their car. Not only will the weapon be allowed in the vehicle but also in themselves if the student

Concealed Weapons
need to walk alone at night and feels the need to protect themselves from possible attack. This
overall is still under debate for the reason that its very controversial (The New York Times,
2015).
Interviews
Part of the research includes an interview with a real student from local campus with their
opinion and thoughts on gun control. Fernanda Burciaga, student from El Paso Community
College expresses how guns on campus are dangerous. One does not know if the person
carrying the gun had any psychological problems or their intentions, what if they get in an
argument with their peers and use it in a wrongful manner she says. Others such as Andres
Chaves now a Cadillac worker talks about his experience the year before during his senior year
with a gun man. Chaves speaks about the situation in Burges High when a gun man walked
inside the campus creating a lock-down, I wished I had a gun to protect myself just in case he
got to me. Both students give different sides yet both aim for the outcome of protecting
themselves and their peers.
Awareness
As a citizen ones responsibilities is to be active and aware of the news and laws passed
which affect all of the country. Gun control affect everyone for the reason being that you are
either part of the target or you are the shooter. Not participating in the discussion may lead to the
disagreement with the congress. Voting and taking part of either side is suggested to help end
fatalities like those that have occurred earlier in the year. Different organization like those listed
before are available to b part off and 9ts encouraged to see both the good and the bad and take a
stand based on best interest for the students and the community.

Concealed Weapons
Discussion
Concealed Weapons is a daily topic argued in both society and in congress. Some say
weapons should not be allowed other argue that the weapons serve as protection (The Party of
Principle, 2010). No matter what side is chosen the main point is to take part and support of
them in order to bring more safety to each campus. The outcome is to end the violence and have
a successful country.
Limitations
Every research has its limitations, such as demographics, high number of bias and
accuracy that is up to date. Demographic limitations did cause a problem with the research in a
sense that no everyone in the Country was able to give their opinion. Texas is only one of the
fifty states and not all research include every country. Bias is a major limitation, the decisions
made not only include facts but include many opinions and different point of views. Each
organization uses different systems of collecting information and most of it is based on opinion
and the idea of why safety means to one another. Another limitation is the accuracy of the
statistics. The amount shootings changes weekly and the shooting that dont have deaths may go
unheard of. Due to these limitations of the paper future use may be limited as the stats will
change along with the laws and amount of feedback from the citizens.

Concealed Weapons
Conclusion
Weapons are made for safety but are also capable of causing destruction. With large
numbers of shooting in the decade authorities seek for solutions to end violence. Organizations
try their hardest to get the citizens to take part of the change for better. New policies in the year
2016 are soon to be taken and only time will show its effectiveness. With more than half of the
shooting occurring at universities, the campuses are the ones targeted to make effective laws.

Concealed Weapons
References
(Consulting, 2013)
(EVERYTOWN for gun safety, 2014)
(The Party of Principle, 2010)
(The campaing to keep guns of campus, 2015)
(United States Concealed Carry Assosiation, 2003)
(Universe, 2015)
(Chaves, 2013)
(Feernanda, 2015)
(Time, 2015)
(The New York Times, 2015)
(Pew Research Center, 2015)