T he debate over a law passed in North Carolina last year that allows concealed carry permit holders to have guns on university campuses may bring the state into a similar nation-wide movement. Last month, Idaho became the seventh state in the nation to pass legislation that will allow people with concealed carry permits to bring their firearms into university classrooms . Some concern has been raised within the UNC community about the possibility of similar legislation being introduced in North Carolina in the coming months. Should this occur, state legislators should certainly not allow the bill to become law or risk severe consequences for the state.
North Carolina was put in the spotlight last fall for its new concealed carry legislation. The law allows concealed carry permit holders to have weapons on college campuses, but only under certain conditions. For example, the new law stipulates that to have a handgun on campus, a person must have a concealed carry permit, and the gun has to be kept in a locked container in a locked car .
Proponents of the concealed carry law and the possibility of Idaho-like additions to North Carolina’s gun laws maintain that none of the predicted negative consequences have materialized .
Unfortunately, this is an incomplete view of the situation and the impact that allowing guns on campus may have.
Introducing legislation like Idaho’s would create endless possibilities for gun violence on college campuses. As of now, the large physical distance between owners and their guns on campus lowers the potential for any sort of accident to occur. Taking this distance away by allowing guns into classrooms would remove this safeguard.
Situations that would not previously have involved guns are now inherently threatened by the risk of gun violence.
Much controversy has already arisen from North Carolina’s most recent concealed carry legislation. Expanding this even further would not only be a threat to student safety, but also would politically weaken the image of North Carolina conservatives. Of all the issues facing North Carolina, choosing to focus on such a relatively insignificant but highly controversial issue seems like it would be a waste of congressional time and taxpayer money.
There is no need for students, faculty or otherwise to be able to carry guns in university classrooms. No greater example of this is needed than the most recent incident involving the knife-wielding man on campus. Though police did draw some criticism for the speed of their reactions, in the end they successfully apprehended the man and no one was hurt. At no point was any type of vigilantism needed . Furthermore, any sort of additional threat toward the man from an untrained individual could have resulted in unnecessary violence to anyone in the area.
North Carolina legislators should not follow in the footsteps of Idaho’s lawmakers and, should the time come, reject any law which furthers the capacity for firearms to be on college campuses.
