Guns on Campus

April 20, 1999 and April 16, 2007 will forever remain a day of sadness for those affected by the school shootings that occurred at ColumbineHigh School and VirginiaTechUniversity.  These tragedies have torn the hearts of not only the communities, but also the entire nation.  We always expect violence to occur in poor, unsecured neighborhoods, but a campus is perceived as a safe environment, and therefore, immune to this violence.  An educational institute should promote a community of safety, but when guns are allowed to be concealed; only fear enters the minds of every student.  These stories of violence on campuses should provide enough proof that steps to prevent gun violence should be taken.

School shootings generally involve gun violence, so preventing gun violence will directly prevent school shootings.  We believe that restricting gun control and making security up to higher standards will be some of the first steps for preventing this violence.

A study done by justfacts.com found that in 1997, 68% of murders were done using a firearm.  This alarming statistic just goes to show the potential danger that any gun is, not taking into account who is operating it.

Also, according to the article “Lessons Learned from Columbine,” 71 percent of shooters felt bullied, threatened, attacked or injured by others.  So finding these people and getting them the help that they need could be one less statistic.  Just being friendly and including others could be the difference between having a memory like Columbine or just hearing stories of it happening.

As fellow students, we can do our own part in looking for signs of a possible shooter.  According to WireTap Magazine, people who show signs of social isolation, low self-worth, and don’t take criticism well are red-flag suspects.  Just being aware of these signs and reporting them may prevent the next Virginia Tech shooter.  Along with our own personal prevention steps, schools should also deeply consider making specifics rules.

            Every college and high school campus in the United States should have a security plan to help keep the students and staff safe from any type of threat.  Virginia Tech. University and Columbine High School learned this the hard way.  Virginia Tech. University lost thirty-two lives and had several wounded because of a student who open fired in the university.  Columbine High School lost thirteen lives and had several wounded when two students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, started shooting inside of the school.  These tragedies made colleges and high schools wake up and realize that the security of the school and the safety of the staff and students are important.  Before, the Virginia Tech massacre, the shooter unconsciously gave warning signs of him about to do something, the staff and students just didn’t know what signs to look for.  Colleges and High Schools should start taking preventable action and improving security right away.

            Improving the security of colleges and high schools is important to keeping staff and students safer.  The article “Can We Make Campuses Safer?” stated that the Columbine massacre led to many high schools across the country to install metal detectors.  According to the article “Lessons from Columbine,” the attacks kick-started the school safety movement and the school safety research industry, pushing schools to lock doors, install security cameras and mass-notification call systems and require all staff and visitors to wear ID badges.  The Virginia Tech. University massacre led other colleges to rethink their security to see if it could use improving.  The article “Rethinking Campus Security,” states that the Common Application, an admissions form used by some colleges, asks potential students whether they’ve been convicted of a crime or have been disciplined at school.  The idea:  is to weed out the bad seeds before they disappear into the student body.  Warning students quickly of danger is important.  A handful of companies, like e2Campus, now offer instant messaging services, where with the click of a mouse a campus administrator could alert students on their cell phones, and it only cost about a dollar per student per year.  In the article “Can We Make Campuses Safer?” stated that many colleges are now controlling access to college dorms by using an electronic key that can also be used to track the comings and goings of individual students.  The University of North Carolina uses Digital Acoustics high-tech intercom system, which can immediately broadcast a message to a single classroom or to the entire campus.  Johns Hopkins University uses a new system, which places “smart” video cameras around campus that rely on computer algorithms to detect suspicious activity, such as someone climbing a fence, walking down an alley late at night or lingering by a windowsill.  Just improving the security won’t be enough.  Universities and High Schools must focus more on preventive measures like mental counseling; outreach and helping students identify early signs of trouble, according to the article “Preventing Violence on Campuses.”

            Taking preventable action by watching how some students interact or don’t interact with others and watching for other signs is important because it could prevent a tragedy like Virginia Tech and Columbine from happening.  Seventy-one percent of shooters the Secret Service studied felt “persecuted, bullied, threatened, attacked or injured by others,” in several cases, they’d experienced school bullying and harassment that was “long-standing and severe,” stated in the article “Lessons from Columbine.”  Schools that tolerate lots of bullying and look the other way from petty acts of violence are more vulnerable to escalating violence, including rampages from shooters.  In the article “Lessons from Columbine,” Pollack, a Harvard psychologist, has visited Columbine several times since 1999, and says the shooters “needed help, and what they got day after day was no one noticing.  They were left alone.  Adolescents really want some kind of connection with an adult who understands and cares.”  Many shooters didn’t just “snap” at the time of the attack-they usually planned it, told other kids in advance and were often egged on by others.  At colleges, faculty and students, could be educated on what signs to look for-someone who’s socially isolated, has low self-worth, doesn’t take criticism well, and may have put out early signals about his or her intentions in the hope of getting someone to intercede, according to the article “Preventing Violence on Campuses.”  Professor Sudderth, director of Quinnipiac University’s criminal justice program, hopes the Virginia Tech incident makes universities look more closely at security and ways to treat students with mental-health problems, stated in the article “Preventing Violence on Campuses.”

Another way to decrease the amount of violence on campus is to control who carries a firearm or has access to a firearm.  According to justfacts.com a resource for independent thinkers, in 1997, out of 15,289 committed murders 10,369 of the murderers used a firearm.  Even with the previous statistic, the Students for Concealed Carry on Campus (SCCC) are currently lobbying to lift the ban on concealed weapons on college campuses.  All campuses, either high school or college, should control who has access to a firearm on campus or who carries a firearm during their time on campus.

            The Virginia Tech shooting by Seung-Hui Cho and the NorthernIllinoisUniversity shooting by Steven Kazmierczak re-opened the debate about how best to protect the safety of students on college campuses according to an article titled “Guns on Campus.”  The students believe that by carrying concealed firearms would decrease the amount of rape and assault on campuses.  However, an article entitled “Shooting Down Concealed Guns on Campuses” stated that both of these acts can be deterred with a key chain equipped with some pepper spray.  By allowing students to carry firearms, colleges and high schools are allowing students to protect and defend themselves at the expense of others on campus.  Many people assume that by letting people carry concealed weapons while on campus that the number of murders and assaults would decrease; however some other measures could be taken to decrease the amount of violence on campus.

            “Lessons from Columbine: More security, outreach in school” stated that in Lucy Addison Middle School a guard stands by the door focusing on the eyes of the students looking for small signs of anger or grief, some crumb of unhappiness or aggression left over from the weekend, the night before or the previous school day.  He also watched their body language because Principal Robert Johnson said that the little things can lead to bigger things.  Most of the killers including Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold from the ColumbineHigh School shooting were depressed or were having difficulty coping with significant losses at the time of their killings according to the U.S. Secret Service and U.S. Education Department.  They also reported many had attempted or considered suicide before the time of attack and that they didn’t just snap.  The Secret Service found that 71 percent of shooters they studied felt “persecuted, bullied, threatened, attacked or injured by others.”  In several cases, they’d experienced school bullying and harassment that was “long-standing and severe.”  David Osher, vice president at the American Institutes for Research reported that schools that tolerate lots of bullying and look the other way from petty acts of violence are more vulnerable to escalating violence, including rampages from shooters.  There are others things that a person could do to keep themselves safe from harm other than carrying a concealed firearm.

            Keeping in lighted areas and using the buddy system are ways to avoid attacks.  The larger the group the safer a student is because studies have shown that attackers, using a firearm or not, usually kill when the number of victims is small.  However, sometimes the victims can’t defend themselves because the shooters have a frame of mind that they must kill.  According to a book entitled “She Said Yes,” the gunmen killed Cassie because when asked if she believed in God, she said yes.  Cassie’s gunmen may or may not have killed her had she said no, but after killing so many people before Cassie it proves that they were in a state of mind to kill on April 20, 1999.  Cassie had been hiding under a table in the library and she had no clue what was in store for her when Eric and Dylan walked into the library where Cassie and friends had been studying before the shooting.  Victims of such crimes may not always be able to protect themselves, but allowing them to carry a concealed firearm would not help the situation.

Gun violence in schools must be prevented.  Its is really saddening that in many cases it takes tragedies to make colleges and high schools to wake up and realize that the security of the school and the safety of the staff and students are important.  Securing schools, preventing attacks, and avoiding attacks on campus need more consideration by universities.  A world where all students can look in a safe environment and feel truly secure is something universities should pursue with more attention and concern.

            Four years ago, a large conflict emerged in an Iraqi University where students were gunned down after a religious gathering.   In the words of Aparism Ghosh, from an article in Time magazine “For millions of Iraqis, it’s a familiar concern.”  The same year, Iraqi universities experienced a rocket attack on an engineering college in the heart of Baghdad, killing two students.  Universities around the world need to set up better policies to protect their students and faculty.

            Quite a few ways to prevent attack exist, as security plans and facilities have undergone installation throughout the world and the United States.  Roger Engelke gives some information on a past project designed to prevent attacks on campuses.  “Congress has moved to draft legislation that names Sandia National Laboratories to head a national center of expertise for school security technologies known as the School Security Technology Center.  Over time, responsibility for running the center will be transferred to a non-profit organization staffed by experienced school administrators and school security professionals.”  The chosen labs have had past successes in designing a New Mexico school security system, which used video surveillance and sensor systems to deter crime.  Less then a year after the changes started, the school had a 90% decrease in vandalism and theft, 75% fewer fights on campus, and 95% fewer false fire alarms.  This system has proved it can lower gun violence on campuses; so many universities and schools have started to shift over to the blueprint that was presented by this lab.

            Watching out for peculiar situations can help protect others and oneself.  By watching how some students interact or don’t interact with others and watching for other signs is important because it could prevent violence.  As stated in “Lessons learned from Columbine”, over 70% of shooters felt bullied before finally planning and carrying out an attack.  Students like past shooters needed help, and some students today need help as well.  We need to watch out for and take care of each other to protect others and ourselves.

-K. Montag, H. O'neil, H. Brinkman, and Roastedpinebark-