Guns on campus?
Andrew Wild
Students may soon be toting guns along with books and pencils at MCC and other colleges around the state.
At the moment, the decision of whether to let guns on campuses is left up to the individual schools, and no campus in Arizona allows them.
This will change if a bill being proposed by Senator Ron Gould passes and the governor signs it.
Gov. Jan Brewer vetoed a bill last year, despite the bill passing the house with a strong majority, that would have allowed guns on Arizona’s campuses.
She stated that the bill was “too vague” on exactly who can carry guns on campus and where.
Proponents see allowing guns on post-secondary campuses as positive, allowing personal defense and protecting the second amendment.
Coty McKenzie, spokesman for the Arizona chapter of Students for Concealed Carry, is one who sees this as needed a change. “We’re excited. There are a few good bills in the house. The governor vetoed the bill last year, but the new bills will clarify who can carry and when. As long as you have a concealed carry permit, you can carry on campus,” he said.
“Look at the past incidents,” McKenzie said. “The signs saying ‘no guns on campus’ did not do anything. Whether armed students would have changed anything is up for debate, but at least they would have had a chance. Being able try to defend your self is better than dying in a dark corner on a cell phone trying to call for someone else to help.”
“Being able to protect yourself everywhere else in the state but not across this line makes no sense,” McKenzie said. “There’s also the comfort factor of being able to protect yourself, on campus and off. If I’m leaving the library at two or three in the morning after studying, I might run into trouble walking through some of the rougher neighborhoods. If I can’t bring my gun to campus, I can’t protect myself during my commute either.”
The chiefs of police at all Arizona’s universities and the heads of each college district in Arizona have come out against the bill.
Steve Corich, Public Safety Director at MCC, says allowing guns on campus would be detrimental to safety, not the other way around. “The most obvious reason against it is the vigorous debate that can take place at MCC. Instructors promote such debate, which can and does get intense. Students get so entrenched and excited that there have been fights. Introducing guns to this is not smart, and can be harmful to the atmosphere of open debate.”
He says that in the case of a campus shooter, an armed student may do more harm to themselves and others than if they had waited for police response. “Officers and I will react very quickly. We can’t determine who is good and bad in a split second, we just see people with guns.”
Corich said, ” there’s two to three police officers on campus at all times, and we won’t wait for backup. We’re coming in fast and aggressively. We don’t want a well-intentioned student or instructor in shock getting killed because they don’t drop their weapon fast enough.”
Having armed people all pulling guns in the case of an active shooter threat may result in heavy collateral damage, as decisions are made in split seconds. “They won’t have nearly enough training,” Corich said. The test for a concealed carry permit does not require a live firing in some circumstances. If you can pass a mental health and felony background check, you can get a concealed carry permit, which is all that would be required to pack your pistol to school.
The proposed law would allow guns on school grounds, but require students leave the weapons in gun lockers when they enter a building. McKenzie says this should alleviate concerns about scared teachers and discouraged debate, but Corich isn’t so sure. “That will encourage people to handle their firearms more, which could result in accidental discharge or theft,” Corich said.
“You got to do what you got to do,” Corich said. “If this law passes, we can’t just say no. We will just make sure that public safety is secure here on campus.”
