Last Friday, there was another shooting at a university. This time it was Delaware State, where two students walking across campus close to midnight were gunned down. The university went into lockdown for more than 12 hours after the shooting while campus and city police searched for the gunman. Students were confined to their dorms, with the option of exiting campus along a path secured by police.

As crime has become an increasingly visible feature of campus life, universities have installed devices such as video cameras and call boxes on and around campuses nationwide, supposing that these reactive measures will protect students and employees from being killed, raped or mugged. In response to the mass murder at Virginia Tech, universities are also installing loud speakers and bulletproof doors.

For many state legislators and campus officials, self-delusion is preferable to the hard truth ­- it seems they are pretending that mass murders can be stopped easily. The only real solution to protecting students and employees is to permit them to carry firearms on campus.

When students approached the governor-appointed Virginia Tech Review Panel, which was formed to investigate and make recommendations after the shooting, they suggested the university permit students and employees licensed by the state to carry concealed firearms to carry on campus. The students presented a mountain of evidence showing that law-abiding citizens who carry concealed weapons reduce violent crime. This same evidence has convinced 39 states to enact laws requiring the state to issue firearm carry permits to eligible citizens upon request, up from only eight states that had such a law 20 years ago. But the panel responded that such a policy would distract from the university's educational mission. The panel was wrong. It is the weapons prohibition that is obstructing the education of the university's students.

The instinct to self-preserve is as natural as one's instinct to breathe. People are biologically programmed to defend themselves and others when confronted with death or serious harm. It is a responsibility that comes with being human. If we are prohibited from carrying firearms for our defense, that responsibility is taken from us and delegated to the police, infantilizing us and making us less human.

The ancient democratic Greeks would find our dependence on police appalling. In their time, only oligarchies permitted such power to be vested in so few people. A ban on weapons was an act of a tyrant, behavior that Plato considered to be pathology. In Ancient Athens, it was the duty of ordinary citizens to ensure law and order. That does not mean that an individual Athenian was judge, jury and executioner - Athens had a jury-oriented justice system similar to what we have today. It did mean, however, that law and order was a community enterprise. For Athenians, protecting the community from violent crime was essential to being a decent citizen, and no police were needed or wanted.

Compare this ethic with that of today, when we have delegated our responsibility as human beings and our duty as citizens for defense of ourselves and others to the police. In Austin, a man police described as a "good Samaritan" was beaten to death in front of more than a dozen bystanders on the day of this year's Juneteenth celebration. New York City, which has a total ban on privately held guns, has become famous for its citizens' apathy when violent crime takes place in public view. Apparently, witnesses to these crimes delegate their courage and caring to police as well.

When taking the required course to receive my concealed handgun license, the instructor told our class, "When you carry your firearm, you will find yourself acting more responsibly than you would otherwise."

We should all hope for such improvement for ourselves and our community. For information on obtaining a concealed handgun license, visit www.txdps.state.tx.us and click the "concealed handgun" link.

Staha is a law student and former chairman of the Senate of College Councils.

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools