Shooting at Northern Illinois University

[shinerbock]

Originally Posted by DSTCHAOS

Correct and that's why university and city officials are required to provide security measures. If they aren't doing a good job, force them to hear your voice and do better. Many colleges and universities made a lot of changes after VTech.

What, an email/text messaging system? That won't help kids already in class. We have security officers at school, and they're worthless (unarmed). I don't depend on the police to defend my family, and I don't think I should have to depend on the school to defend my life either.

I also don't hear a lot of stories about mass school shootings that mainstream America would care about. So I guess that means we need to abandon these types of discussions altogether. The possibility does not render it important.

What? The point is that legally carrying firearms owners are rarely involved in gun crime. Thus, once again, proving the point that the only people who follow "gun free" regulations are the people who will abide by the laws anyway. Gun crime is relatively rare anyway, does this mean we don't need police? The fact that it probably won't happen to me or people I care about doesn't make me more comfortable about the fact that I have no defense against someone who doesn't respect the law like I do.

Indeed and telling them that they aren't breaking the law by doing so is a facilitating factor that increases criminal opportunities.

Again, what? Most people who walk into public places and indiscriminately kill people don't give a damn whether they're licensed to carry. The idea that allowing people to carry legally will encourage criminals to commit atrocious crimes is absurd.


So who is going to train these wannabe defenders of the Universe? Shooting a human is way different than shooting a board at a gun range or a deer.

Answer: No one. Gun toting students will be the same as gun owning home owners...scared and susceptible to having their guns taken from them and used against them.

Many states require training before people can carry concealed. The same rules will apply here. When someone has the goal of killing everyone in the classroom I'm in, I'd rather have someone in their with minimum training who'll make an effort to stop the threat, than having nobody at all. I don't care if the person is an 18 year old girl with a weak grip, what difference does having it taken away make if we're all targets to start with?

Not to mention that having the guns reduces the potential for conflicts to be resolved without gunfire. Are students allowed to shoot as the potential assailant is walking into the area or walking out of the area (with their backs turned)? We have established laws for homeowner gun use that are still broken. Imagine what would happen when "defending our property/ourselves" includes untrained students defending college campuses--you will lose a lot of student, faculty, and staff if that is allowed.

This is an incredibly broad overstatement about something you seem to be unfamiliar with. When people walk into the classroom with several guns, I don't think there is going to be a chance to resolve the situation without gunfire. Every gun owner I know has thought about the subject of "when to act" extensively, and this is why I suggest you're unfamiliar with the subject matter. People who carry concealed go through the effort to do so, I have encountered very few people who are irresponsible and yet jump through the required hoops, pay the required expenses, and go through the required discomfort of carrying concealed. You're saying that because a small minority of people may or may not respond correctly, we should all become unprotected targets for those who choose to break the laws that we abide by? Basically, following the law leaves you extremely vulnerable, and I can't say I agree with this mindset.

But it won't be allowed so, again, this is all a theoretical debate.

A couple of states, if I recall correctly, have already passed legislation allowing it. Many others are in the midst of the debate right now. Now, other matter is whether schools will attempt to take away this right which the legislature bestows, but I sincerely hope that they won't.