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Sandeep Parajuli
Dr. Sterling
ENGL 1302
6 February 2017
Guns on Campus
Adam Winkler, in his article, The Guns of Academe: [Op-Ed], sheds light on the issue
of guns if allowed on campus. This article was published by New York Times in April 15, 2011,
but the issue of campus carry continues. Winkler believes, as a professor, he would feel safer if
guns were not allowed on campus. He also believes that the gun right advocates are trying to
allow guns in school to make guns acceptable to the whole society, as students are the leaders of
tomorrow. And lastly, he makes the point that, adolescents could see it as a mark of adulthood,
and they might turn to violence quickly before age, like smoking and drinking.
In a facetious way, Winkler says that he would be more afraid of the student, carrying a
gun with a bad grade than a mass killer roaming the hallways. Sure, he sounds a bit over
exaggerating, but that is not the point he wants to make. This comment is just there to imply
what the immaturity of students can result to even it being as silly as shooting the professor for a
bad grade. But, Winkler does state that its his gut feeling, and there is very little evidence to
prove it. He gives the example of Utah, where guns are allowed, but there has been no increase
in crime, where as in the case of Virginia tech killer, a disturbed student brought a gun to school.
The author expressed the idea that it might not change the crime rate, but just due to this,
the law shouldnt be changed. As providing the ability to get guns itself creates a chance for
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accidents to happen. In any crossfires that might occur, nobody is safe if everyone has a gun. The
probability of someone getting shot multiplies with each more number of guns, its as simple
math as that. Somebody might argue, when everybody is equipped with guns, no one would
attempt to shoot another person, but we also need to consider that any student might get mentally
instable at least once in their college life, like in the case of Virginia Tech Killer. Also, there are
students who get bullied, or drink alcohol, or are involved in other unusual things that might
trigger them into doing anything. Why should we take a chance to that, when we can take no
chance at all?
Winkler stated it repeatedly that the gun rights advocates are trying to make the carrying
of the guns acceptable to the society by trying to allow it on the campus; as the students are the
leaders of tomorrow, and changing their thought could change the idea of whole society. This
idea being an assumption, seems like a bitter truth. Where might be a better place to change the
view against the guns, than the place where future generation is being educated. As of today, a
total of eight states have passed laws making the campus carry legal. The first state to allow
firearm in school was Utah. The permit holders do not need to report to school for carrying a
gun. Arizona followed Utah in passing the law to allow the guns on campus, but it was limited
outside the class. Although, Other states have been beating the gun right advocates, that might
also change soon as the supporters of this appeal are increasing. This growth was inevitable if we
look at the present context. The violent acts that are taking place on many campuses around the
country is confirming the need to change the security system around the campuses. It needs to be
more sturdy. Many people think that putting hand guns in each student and teacher would make
it safer, but these people are not counting all the factors, some of which are mentioned above.
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Another problem, Winkler suggested, might be the adolescents turning to violence before
the age. This is a very probable possibility. The adolescents copy the adults. Most of the people
are exposed to alcoholism, smoking, and other things adult do, in the adolescence period. When
the guns are allowed in schools, they would want to copy their seniors. This might pose a serious
problem.
Even the idea of having someone usual person around the campus with a gun is
somewhat frightening. College students go through a lot of things in their college life, and there
are some hard times when they should be given some guidance and counseling, rather than
handing them guns. There is still prevalence of students bullying other students. In this case too,
an accident might happen any time. Though, there is a little chance that someone might shoot a
bully, there would be no chance for that to happen if simply the guns are not allowed in campus.
The author was overall effective in the essay. I believed in all the major points he made.
Even though some of his points were assumptions, they made sense. He used humor, facts, and
assumptions to make his points. He properly used the incidents to the favor of his points. The
guns in the hands of students could bring many disasters. The gun rights advocates do not care
about it. They are only tempted to make it legal everywhere, but the combination of immaturity
and this dangerous firearm shouldnt be taken as a small issue. Allowing it might result into