Introduction

Gun violence is an evolving issue in the United States of America. Massacres in Virginia
Tech in April 16, 2007 and in Sandy Hook Elementary School (Newtown) in December
14, 2012 cannot be forgotten. Neither the dates nor the loss of lives can be obliterated
by Americans for the senseless killings. Many incidents of crimes involving gun happen
in a regular manner but people dont pay attention to it until and unless it causes a
major destruction of lives and property, i.e., of the order of a massacre. Almost every
other day, people lose lives and sometimes their property because of gun violence. This
is especially true for big cities like Chicago. As an academic institution, UALR has been
fortunate not to have any kind of massacre or significant loss of lives involving guns, but
there is no guarantee that any such incident will not occur at UALR. Its been stated by
medical counsellors that in most of the cases, the shooters often go through some sort of
mental depression which drives them insane and they end up killing people. Thus, there
is no guarantee that there wont be any killing at UALR because we cannot predict
anyones mind. This report examines the present scenario at UALR which means
current gun control policy on-campus and how its affecting the crime rates on-campus.
Examining the crime rates at UALR and comparing with that of other schools,
recommendations are made for a modified gun control policy.

Arkansas State laws

On March 14, 2013 House bill 1243 was passed by the Arkansas legislature which allow
university/college faculty members to conceal carry on school grounds and in school
owned buildings, excluding school dormitories, unless the school administration passed
its own policy prohibiting carry on inside campus. But the policy needs to be renewed
every year by the school administration if they want to continue following it.

UALR Gun Control Policy

In order to keep the UALR campus crime free, our chancellor Dr. Joel E. Anderson
opposed the bill and issued UALRs own gun policy which strictly prohibits possession
or use of any kind of dangerous weapons like pistols, handguns, BB guns, pellet guns,
knives, slingshots, bows and arrows, etc., on campus. And anyone violating this
regulation will not only be punished by police but will also be subjected to separation
from the university.


UALR Crime Statistics

UALR gun control policy is obeyed by majority of the students, faculty members and
staffs. Sometimes it is violated by outside people, which resulted in the following crime
statistics for UALR main campus:

Nature of crime involving gun 2010 2011 2012
Arrest for weapons 1 2 1
Robbery 0 1 2
Burglary 7 8 10
Aggravated Assault 1 1 1

From 2013 to February 2014, 3 cases of arrests for weapons and 1 case of robbery on
UALR main campus. In contrast to that, the crime statistics in UALR other campuses
like: Benton Campus, William H. Bowen School of Law Campus, and Clinton School of
Public Service Campus, no crime is reported regarding arrests for weapons, robbery,
burglary, and aggravated assault from the time period 2010-2012. Thus, this shows
that UALR Gun Control Policy has been more effective in UALR subsidiary campuses
except for the main campus. To have a safer and more secure environment, the UALR
gun control policy needs to be modified. From the statistics mentioned in the table, the
most number of arrests are for burglary. Generally, such crimes are committed by
people who are not a part of the university. Therefore, UALRs gun control policy is
ineffective for them as they enter the university with a motive of committing a crime.
Thus, to avoid this kind of situation, the UALR public safety needs to take some
measures and precautions to reduce the burglary crime rate.

Gun Control Policy in other Arkansas Schools

In order to make effective recommendations, a study on gun control policy and crime
statistics at other Arkansas schools has been researched and the following is the finding.

Hendrix College Gun Control Policy

Like UALR, all guns, firearms, fireworks and other explosives and weapons, are strictly
prohibited on campus premises, residence halls and including vehicles. According to
Hendrix Weapons policy, Hunting rifles, shotguns, bows and arrows, knives with blades
longer than six (6) inches, and swords may, however, be registered with the Public
Safety Office and be stored under the locked storage system provided by Public Safety,
unlike UALR. This policy also includes weapons like: handguns, B.B. guns, pellet guns,
air guns, stun guns, brass knuckles, knives and any other type of weapon. So possession,
sale or use of any kind of weapons will result in the immediate separation from the
university.

Hendrix College Crime Statistics

The above weapon policy is followed by most of the students except a few. Mostly it is
violated by people not from the college which results in high burglary rates. The
following table shows the crime statistics in Hendrix College from 2010 to 2012:
Nature of crime involving gun 2010 2011 2012
Robbery 1 0 1
Aggravated Assault 2 0 0
Burglary 3 15 6
Arrest for weapons 0 0 0
The pattern in crime statistics of Hendrix College is similar to that of UALR. Most of the
arrests were made for burglary cases. Other than that, it has less number of arrests than
UALR in other crimes. This statistics show that the weapon policy is obeyed by majority
of the people who are a part of the college and is effective in most cases other than
burglary which is committed by outside people. The difference in statistics can be seen
in case of possession of illegal weapons, there has not been even a single arrest in
Hendrix College whereas UALR had 1 arrest each year. The difference is not much but it
might happen for the policy of registering and storing weapons under the locked
storage system provided by the Public Safety of Hendrix College. This crime statistics
show that Hendrix College weapon policy is little more effective than UALR gun control
policy.

University of Arkansas at Fayetteville Gun Control Policy

Similar to gun control policy at UALR and Hendrix College, any kind of guns, firearms,
fireworks, explosives or other weapons are strictly prohibited on the University
campus, University Residence Halls or in areas controlled by the University including
vehicles parked in the University parking. According to the UARKs weapon policy, the
weapons include: Firearm ammunition, air pistols, air rifles, fireworks, incendiary
devices, lock blade or fixed blade knives with a blade length of four inches or greater,
blackjacks, metal knuckles, or any other such offensive weapons of any description. In
contrast to UALR policy, UARK policy allows an individual to possess any tear gas type
products in personal use quantities for self defence but other than that its prohibited.
An individual violating the weapon policy will be subjected to disciplinary action which
includes suspension or expulsion from the University.

University of Arkansas at Fayetteville Crime Statistics

The following table shows the crime rates reported regarding different crimes involving
guns and violating the weapon policy:
Nature of crime involving gun 2009 2010 2011 2012
Robbery 1 0 1 2
Aggravated Assault 1 0 2 4
Burglary 35 45 46 38
Arrest for weapons 4 2 1 2

From the above crime statistics of UARK, there is a big difference in arrests for burglary
compared to UALR and Hendrix College. Prevention from burglary cases must be taken
up by the Public Safety of each respective college and university. As its a crime that is
mostly committed by people who do not know the university weapon policy and is not a
part of the university. But other than that, there is not much difference in the arrest
rates for other crimes. In comparison to UALR and Hendrix College, UARK has more
crime rates or arrests than UALR and certainly relative to Hendrix College. It is also
related to the student population of the campus. However it appears that UARK weapon
policy is less effective than that of UALR and Hendrix College.
Conclusion

In conclusion, there is a correlation between the University/college weapon policy and
the crime statistics of the University/college. So to reduce the crime rate especially on
the main campus of UALR, it seems desirable that there needs to be some modification
in the gun control policy and the policy needs to be spelled out to students for them to
be fully aware of. To reduce the burglary crime rate, the public safety should take some
strong measures of alert and vigilance. Hendrix College has comparatively less crime
arrests than UALR which may be due to slight difference in the weapon policy. Hendrix
is also a fully residential school.

Recommendation

The research question is how the UALR gun control policy is enforced. I propose a new
study which consists of a survey of students answering the question: Does the Public
Safety of UALR need to maintain a weapon storage system like Hendrix College where
people can store their handguns? If majority of the student agrees, this clause should
be included in the gun control policy of UALR. The University should also build some
more emergency booths to alert public safety of a crime so that the victim doesnt have
to run to find one.