Ban gun bans

I think most of us feel pretty safe here at IU. That’s good. But there’s a difference between feeling safe and being safe. Probably the students at NIU, Virginia Tech, Columbine and other schools that have been victims of random shootings felt safe, too.\nNIU, Virginia Tech and Columbine were all “gun-free zones.”\nThe IU campus is also a “gun-free zone.” This prevents law-abiding citizens like you and me from carrying weapons, but it would never deter someone with the intent to massacre innocent people. No killer thinks to himself, “Well, I guess I can’t shoot up that university because I don’t want to violate the gun ban!” But such policies do prevent the good guys from having any means to protect themselves. When there is a shooting in a “gun-free zone,” the only person with any control over the situation is a crazed killer with the sole purpose of destroying as many lives as possible. \nThe fact is that our campus isn’t truly a gun-free zone. Anyone could bring a concealed weapon here. Gun bans can only make people safer if they are absolutely enforced. Gun bans are effective on airplanes because every person is thoroughly checked to make sure no one has a gun. Courtrooms, prisons and other facilities work the same way. If you can make sure that no one is armed, fine. Enact a gun ban. But if there is no way to ensure that weapons cannot be brought into an area, gun bans only leave people who care about the rules with no way to protect themselves. \nI’m not a right-wing gun nut. I’ve never owned a gun, and my parents never had guns while I was growing up. I doubt I’d carry a gun on campus even if I were able to do so. But I’d be glad to know that the ROTC kid in class with me that grew up hunting and listening to Toby Keith carried a gun “just in case.” \nIn December, a gunman opened fire at a Colorado church, killing two teenage girls and wounding their father. The murderer was carrying an assault rifle and two handguns, and had 1,000 rounds of ammunition; he was there to kill a lot of people. Fortunately, Jeanne Assam was also carrying a gun that day. Assam was a church member with a background in law enforcement who served as a volunteer security guard. The fact that she was armed allowed her to take control of the situation and put an end to it before more lives were lost. There are countless other stories of armed citizens saving lives and property.\nWe can’t put a police officer in every classroom, and we wouldn’t want to even if we could. Our society is increasingly dependent on the government to provide for us rather than us doing what it takes to take care of ourselves. If there was ever an attack at IU, we’d be forced to remain helpless until help could arrive, and a lot of people can die in that time. We need the ability to defend ourselves.