To disarm is to harm

Supporting gun control is simply un-American. It seeks to alter and violate the principles of the Constitution that, to this day, shields us all from government tyranny.

We should have the right to defend ourselves under the proper provision of a concealed carry license wherever we go, even on IU campuses.

Our national media loves magnifying numerous incidents of armed violence and demonizing guns non-stop, so I am not surprised to find IU is opposed to allowing licensed concealed firearms on campus. This opposition is primarily fear-based.

Although gun sales have increased in the past 20 years in America, the National Shooting Sports Foundation statistics illustrate that homicides committed with guns have dropped 39 percent, while other gun-related crimes have dropped 69 percent. The 2007 to 2011 FBI homicide data table supports this claim by showing a steady decline in gun murders.

The blog site Foxandhoundsdaily.com holds that about 200,000 women in the U.S. avoid becoming victims of sexual assault every year by defending themselves with guns.

The IU campus has had its unfortunate share of sexual assaults and robberies throughout the past two semesters.

I am absolutely convinced some of these unfortunate experiences might have been prevented if concealed carry was welcomed on campus.

All it takes is common sense to agree with my last remark.

If you were a thief or a sexual predator dedicated to succeed in your mission of crime, would you prefer to hunt in a location where anybody might be packing heat? Or would you venture into an area like our campus where your prey have been disarmed for your convenience?

With only one exception, every mass shooting in the United States since 1950 has occurred in areas where citizens were barred from carrying firearms.

Gun bans only apply to law-abiding citizens, thus making their fundamental purpose of stopping and preventing rampant criminal activity totally vain.

If numerous cities across America allow concealed carry, then why shouldn’t we be able to implement it at our campus where the majority of the carriers would be intelligent, responsible students and staff?

Sure, one can bring up the terrifying combination of guns and alcohol on or near campus, but should we all relinquish our human right to defense just because a minority of fools can’t be trusted? Only a microscopic number of concealed carriers commit crimes with their permitted weapons.

Bottom line: I would feel more secure keeping my Second Amendment right and knowing that I or a fellow student could respond in a life-or-death emergency rather than turtling up and waiting for the police.

Whenever we submit to fear, we are only empowering the source from which that fear arises.

­— edharo@indiana.edu
Follow columnist Edgar Haro @EdHaroDude.