Hayley Smith
Editor-in-Chief
Starting Saturday, July 1, any person 21 and over will have the legal right to carry a concealed weapon onto public college campuses in the state of Kansas. Of course, this includes Butler Community College. It also includes universities such as Kansas State University, Kansas University, Emporia State University and any other public university in the state. Scary? For many people, it is.
Of many concerns surrounding the law, one of the most controversial is the fact that it does not require training Basically, this means that any individual 21 and over can carry a concealed weapon with absolutely no training or a state permit or license. According to the National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action, no state permit is needed in Kansas to purchase a rifle, shotgun or handgun and one does not have to register their firearm with the state.
If someone is toting a gun around with absolutely no training and no idea how to safely use the weapon, accidents are bound to happen. According to a study conducted by the Harvard Injury Control Research Center, the mortality rate was seven times higher in the four states with the most guns compared to the four states with the fewest guns.
I understand individuals want to express their Second Amendment right, but for the sake of everyone involved, please know how to safely operate the weapon that you have holstered at your side. Anyone who is interested in exercising their right to carry should find a safety course to take prior to doing so. These courses can be found with a simple Google search.
Oftentimes, the argument in favor of campus carry is “What if there’s an active killer on campus? If someone has a gun on them, they can stop the killer.” And yes, maybe that is true, but it can also cause much more harm. Police who enter the room with the active killer are not going to know who the suspect is if multiple people are waving their guns around.
According to suicide.org, suicide is the second leading cause of death for college students. Adding potentially untrained firearm carriers to the equation is certainly not a great idea.
Allowing concealed weapons on a college campus is completely ludicrous. What is more crazy is allowing someone to carry with no training. Constitutional campus carry is already a complete fail, but I guess we will have to wait until Saturday, July 1 to see how it truly goes.
