Think about how this statement makes you feel: students legally carrying firearms on campus. Now, think about why you feel that way. What in your life has created this opinion?
A bill was introduced in the most recent session of the Arizona Legislature to allow that very thing to happen.
The bill even made it to Gov. Jan Brewer’s desk, where it was vetoed because she felt the bill was too vague.
Interivews with Rep. J.D. Mesnard, R-Chandler, and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Phoenix, gave me a broad spectrum of opinions. Mesnard voted “yes,” while Sinema voted “no.”
Both teach in higher education as well. Mesnard is an adjunct professor in the Social Science Department at Mesa Community College, and Sinema is an adjunct professor at the School of Social Work at ASU.
Both legislators raised concerns over some students’ discomfort of possibly sitting next to an armed individual.
Some students feel they have a right to feel safe, and this idea makes them feel quite the opposite.
“I am a professor at ASU and I am very much opposed to this legislation. I do not want to have to worry about a disgruntled student in class or the possibility that a careless student with a gun could hurt another on accident.” Sinema said.
Mesnard said the thought of a disgruntled student “sounds like a great case for me to be armed as well … As a faculty member I wouldn’t be concerned about a student having a firearm. They don’t go off accidentally. We shouldn’t assume people are stupid and irresponsible.”
As for the right to feel safe, Mesnard said, “There is no right to feel safe, because safety is subjective. Some people would feel safer being armed. Doesn’t that person then have the right to feel safe?”
Let’s look at the facts to come to a conclusion. Of the schools in the country that allow firearms in buildings or on public right of ways, none of them have experienced any gun violence, either real or threatened.
If we’re looking at this issue logically, the only people who obtain the permits to carry are law-abiding citizens.
Laws preventing firearm possession are deterrents only for the people who actually care about the law, thereby creating an obstacle for those who adhere to laws rather than criminals.
According to the Department of Public Safety’s website, there are 28 registered sex offenders living within a five-mile radius of ASU’s Tempe campus. As a woman, that certainly concerns me and causes me a bit of fear for my safety.
I would feel much safer if I not only were able to carry a firearm on campus myself, but also if I knew that there were probably others who were doing the same.
But see, I won’t carry on campus because I obey the law. I don’t expect criminals to feel the same way.
Campus police are a great reactionary force, but what if I’m unable to reach a phone? If the person has a gun, pepper spray or a Taser probably won’t do much.
Logic dictates that each person is the guarantor of his or her own safety.
I feel safer relying on my side arm, knowing that I have a better chance of survival that way than I do relying on campus emergency phones, cell phones or campus police. Campus carry makes sense.
Fire off a reply at page.gerrick@asu.edu
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