Gun control Summaries III

ESL 5301-002 Gun control/campus carry
Summaries III

1. Summary III

According to Steffanie Atkins’s (2013) news report, Virginia 21’s survey indicated that 83% of Virginian college students did not agree with campus gun carry. “Some Second Amendment advocates” believed allowing people to carry weapons on campus can protect them from school shooting. The executive director for Virginia 21, Tom Kramer, was quoted as saying that students were against campus carry, especially in their dormitories, because sometimes they cannot even decide about their roommates. Virginia 21 would oppose any future campus carry proposal in the future. (Ruizhi)

Reference

Atkins, S. (2013, Jan. 19). Survey from students: no guns on campus. RVA News. Retrieved on September 10, 2015 from http://rvanews.com/news/survey-from-students-no-guns-on-campus/81614

2. Summary 3

In the article, Mr. Ferner, the author of “Gun Violence In Colorado: From Columbine To Aurora, Mass Shootings Reignite Gun Law Debate”, talks about the public debate on gun control laws in Colorado. Since two shooting massacres happened in Colorado, some public media did surveys on people’s attitudes about gun control laws. The result of the survey by New York Times/Quinnipiac/CBS shows that thirty-eight percent of voters supported more rigorous gun laws and half of voters felt we should not revise them. In contrast, the survey by Denver Post showed the opposite attitude, that fifty-six percent of interviewees held anti views on gun control laws while thirty-nine percent of them agreed with it. Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper said that it was a personal problem rather than Colorado problem since the murderer still can create crime without guns, such as explosive and poisonous gas. However, police chief Robert White held a reversed viewpoint. He said that such assault weapons owned by people had less value and actually they had no practical use. (Kai)

Reference:

Ferner, M. (2012, December 17). Gun violence In Colorado: From Columbine to Aurora, mass shootings reignite gun law debate. The Huffington Post. Retrieved on September 10, 2015 from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/17/gun-violence-in-colorado-_n_2316633.html

3. Summary

In the article “Say no to guns on college campuses”, the authors Jade Reindl and Jean Cocco debate about the campus carry issue in Florida State University. They raise this concern that gun lobbyists are trying to convince society that campuses will be reasonably safer if students can carry their firearms. The authors say that people who are in charge in colleges do not accept this idea. As mentioned by the authors, David Perry, the police chief at Florida State University believes that determining whether the intention of the shooter was upright or not, would not be clear. Furthermore, writers say that the majority of the university population does not agree with a campus carry bill. They mention that gun lobbyists think armed students can protect themselves from getting sexually assaulted. However, authors do not agree and state that wherever the number of guns went up in one area, the number of murdered women increased consequently. The writers also debunk this statement by the gun lobbyists in which licensed guns will only be given to citizens with very clean records. The authors refer to a report released by South Florida Sentinel in 2006, which showed hundreds of law-breakers with licensed guns. Last, the authors encourage everybody to show their opposition to this law because they believe that the university campus and classes are not places for guns. They think we have already enough problems like alcohol and drug consumption, so there is no need to add another issue. (S. Saravi)

Reindl, J. and Cocco, J. (2015, February 26). Say no to guns on college campuses. CNN. Retrieved on September 10, 2015 from http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/26/opinion/reindl-cocco-campus-no-guns/

4. Summary

In “Cautious optimism as the struggle with campus carry begins” by Davis Clark, the author believes that legislation of campus carry can have two main consequences in universities. The first one is ansafety issue; the concern of accidental or intentional shooting, or even mass shooting can be raised by allowing concealed guns onto the campus. Previous undesirable shooting experiences in universities can intensify the safety concern on campus. However, even if the university administrators and other people in charge can upgrade the security of the universities and provide a safe campus, psychological trauma may still exist. The stress that can grow between students, employee, and professors about the possibility of carrying a concealed gun by any other person, can be hurtful for an academic environment. For instance, in a situation when a student is not satisfied with his or her grade, the anxiety of dealing with an armed person can intimidate the professor easily. Therefore, the author believes by enacting campus carry, even if we can assure people about safe environment, the anxiety produced by this law can still be damaging. (Soraya)

Clark, D. (2015, July 28). Cautious optimism as the struggle with campus carry begins. The Daily Texan. Retrieved on September 10, 2015 from http://www.dailytexanonline.com/2015/07/28/cautious-optimism-as-the-struggle-with-campus-carry-begins

5. News Summary 3

According to the article, “Exposed handguns, concealed weapons, and the new ‘Campus Carry’ gun law,” Texas passed bills that allow people to carry guns in public space, including college and universities. The CEO of Whataburger openly announced that he would not allow people to carry guns in his restaurants, and he asked other restaurants’ owners to do the same. Police were against this bill as well. Republicans and Democrats have different point of views. Sen. Rodney Ellis, a Democrat, argued that this bill would make a less safe environment. Sen. Craig Estes, a Republican, had a strong belief in people who had concealed licenses. He thought they were responsible people. (Xiaomiao)

Reference

Mooney, N. (2015, September 10). Exposed handguns, concealed weapons, and the new “campus carry” gun law. Inquisitr. Retrieved on September 10, 2015 from http://www.inquisitr.com/2407303/exposed-handguns-concealed-weapons-and-the-new-campus-carry-gun-law

6. Summary

In this article, several opinions about campus carry were presented by the author, Paula Mooney. At first, the CEO of Whataburger insisted that they will not allow guns to be taken in their restaurant and he encouraged other restaurants to follow his advice (Mooney, 2015)). In addition, a person called Mary Johns agreed as well, saying there is no reason to carry guns in places full of children. In contrast, supporters of this bill thought they could be protected by themselves with guns. What's more, the author quoted Andrew Cuomo as saying “How many weeks do we have to have with the same story over and over and over about the insanity that this country is allowing to continue with violence and loss of life of innocent people, because we have people who have no business having guns having guns?” (Lu)

Reference

Mooney, P. (2015, September 10). Exposed handguns, concealed weapons, and the new ‘Campus Carry' gun law. INQUISITR NEWS. Retrieved on September 10, 2015 from
http://www.inquisitr.com/2407303/exposed-handguns-concealed-weapons-and-the-new-campus-carry-gun-law/

7. Summary #3

According to Ms. Castro-Crist in Concealed Carry Referendum will be open to Students, students with concealed handgun license will be able to carry their weapons inside campus next August. Therefore, the Texas Tech administration is working to make a plan for how the campus gun law will be applied. Also, The Tech Student Government Association is working to engage students’ voice in this issue by using a referendum. Some students and faculty have already posted their opinions in social media. One student that Ms. Castro-Crist mentioned is Michael Comfort. He is a sophomore and his major is history. He supports the right of having weapons, but he worried about having guns on campus. Ms. Castro-Crist quoted Michael Comfort as saying, “Safety above all, I think that people should be adequately trained. When it comes to bringing it on campus, there are still a lot of people on campus that aren’t the most mature of individuals.” (Ebtehal)

Reference

Castro-Crist, A. (2015, Augusts 26). Concealed carry referendum will be open to students. Daily Toreador. Retrieved on September 10, 2015 from http://www.dailytoreador.com/news/concealed-carry-referendum-will-be-open-to-students/article_8a829aac-4c69-11e5-92ab-03acd7a507a9.html

Article Summary

According to the article “No guns in my classroom No. 4: More killings with a legal gun now in Roanoke, more reason to stop campus carry” by David Smith-Soto, the shooting incident at Roanoke, Virginia, where two young reporters were murdered, was committed by a person who was using his legally purchased gun. The author uses this example to explain that because of the Texas campus carry law, every person in a classroom can become a target. The author provides more explanation by saying that a person with no criminal background and no mental illness history, who can have access to guns easily, can snap and commit homicide using a gun, just like the incident at Roanoke. According to the author, such a thing can happen on the campus or in a classroom because of the campus carry law. (Pouria)

Reference

Smith-Soto, D. (2015, August 30). No guns in my classroom No. 4: More killings with a legal gun now in Roanoke, more reason to stop campus carry. Borderzine. Retrieved on September 10, 2015 from http://borderzine.com/2015/08/no-guns-in-my-classroom-no-4-more-killings-with-a-legal-gun-now-in-roanoke-more-reason-to-stop-campus-carry/