9 minutes too late

One hundred seventy rounds. Thirty-two people dead and 21 wounded. All of this in less than 10 minutes. The shooting at Virginia Tech on April 16, 2007, was the deadliest in American history, and similar stories have played out all too frequently in our primary and secondary schools.

We have the ability to defend ourselves and our classmates from tragedies like those made famous at Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois. However, the regulations regarding firearm possession on college campuses limit our ability to respond effectively when the unexpected happens.

We are completely incapable of responding to any substantial threat from an armed assailant. In waiting for police response, lives are lost and time is wasted. The need for reform was never heard more loudly than at Virginia Tech – even the swiftest police response was not quick enough.

Integrating trained, designated weapons carriers into the campus population is a way to gain the benefits of having concealed carriers on campus with the least amount of resistance. Having uniquely trained, qualified students and professors carrying weapons allows the campus to achieve a degree of security that is impossible in the current model. In the event of a shooting, these individuals will be able to disarm the suspect and prevent further harm to students and faculty.

This is a brief and oversimplified version of my vision for campus security. Obviously, this kind of operation will require the cooperation of state and local governments, university administration and various other groups to be successful. It is here, in the university environment, where we are best able to petition for change and to prompt comprehensive reform for the safety of ourselves and our peers. It is imperative that we recognize our vulnerability.

Every day, millions of Americans carry weapons without incident in shopping malls, movie theaters, office buildings, banks and restaurants. One in 15 Indiana residents has a weapon. We live in the most heavily-armed country in the world, with 90 weapons per 100 people. We must throw off the flawed assumption that those with firearms have a Jekyll and Hyde complex. This kind of thinking leads some to believe gun carriers are impulsive and more likely to respond violently when no threat is present. This is not the case. The top four of five states for gun ownership (in which Indiana is second) are also in the top five states with the lowest rates of gun violence.

If college campuses remain “gun free zones” we will never achieve the level of safety that is necessary to protect ourselves from the truly opportunistic and mentally unstable. Our administrators and government officials have worked hard to develop the college campus as a liberal utopia. This is a place where the rules governing the rest of society sometimes do not apply. Our gun-free haven – the American university – serves only to disarm law-abiding citizens who might be able to intervene in the event of an on-campus shooting.

Having highly trained designated carriers on campus removes pressure from the administration that would otherwise come with concealed carry rights for all students as such a program could be closely monitored and molded to fit the needs of this unique environment. If we start here, at IU, we can build the internal security program we need. Having weapons carriers on campus may not prevent all cases of gun violence, but it will undoubtedly diminish the effects should the need arise for a response.