Imagine you’re sitting in class and you know some of your classmates have guns. Feel safe? Scared? You’re probably scared.

It’s a reality that several colleges across the country are facing. Laws regulating college students’ ability to have a handgun concealed on campus have been getting attention over the last few months.

Students on college campuses across the country are being granted the ability to have handguns. Earlier this year, the Colorado Supreme Court struck down a ban that outlawed people from having concealed firearms at the University of Colorado.

The University of Colorado now has to restructure its bans, finding ways to ban concealed handguns in dorms and events. Five states across the country now permit carrying handguns on public campuses, the Wall Street Journal reported two weeks ago.

In most cases, the campuses are in charge of setting rules for whether or not to allow guns. In more states, there is a push to lessen the restrictions on concealed carry on college campuses.

The most common argument is that by allowing students to carry handguns, overall safety is better. Supposedly, people who go on shooting sprees could be deterred because of the threat that others could fire back. Students would be able to better respond to potential crimes and protect themselves.

That logic did not stop the shootings in Aurora, Colo. The shooter was not deterred from the potential of moviegoers carrying concealed guns. For some mass shooters, the prospect of being killed after carrying out their attacks is not a concern.

The argument in favor of concealed carry of firearms on college campuses is flawed. We should focus our efforts on making sure irresponsible individuals do not have access to guns. Having strict regulations on who can own a gun will make us safer.

The learning environment is different when guns are introduced into the classroom. Students are put together in tightly crowded buildings — the potential for irresponsible gun use is higher.

We should not have to depend on fellow students to carry guns to be safe. We employ police for this reason. Students for Concealed Carry, an organization that advocates in favor of students carrying concealed weapons, believes police are only part of our defense. According to its website, “What is being suggested is that adults with concealed handgun licenses be allowed to protect themselves on college campuses, the same way they’re currently allowed to protect themselves in most other unsecured locations.”

By allowing for handguns on campuses, police might be unable to distinguish individuals committing crimes and those who are defending themselves.

In searching for answers for how to deal with potential mass shootings at colleges, we should try, as best as possible, to stop the potential for violence at the source. We will never get to a point where all dangerous individuals will be restricted from owning guns. We will not have perfectly safe public spaces, but letting more people own guns on college campuses does not seem to increase safety.

Allowing students to have concealed guns on a college campus is not the answer to the problem.

Harmen Rockler is a senior newspaper journalism and political science major. His column appears weekly. He can be reached at horockle@syr.edu or followed on Twitter at @LeftOfBoston.

Published on October 1, 2012 at 1:00 am