I have been at Tech for 9.5 years now, from undergrad through my graduate work. I have lived off campus for the past five years, and I bike to school. I have never had an issue with anyone along the my route along State Street.
I am completely opposed to allowing concealed carry for students. It’s not just the people with the weapon who have to be completely responsible. It’s everyone around them. If someone who lives on campus has a weapon, then that weapon will be in their room for some amount of time. Anyone who comes by to visit would then have access to that weapon, known or unknown to the rightful owner. What would prevent someone from using a roommate to get access to it without the owner’s knowledge? Additionally, reading the police report in recent issues of the Technique, and seeing many public intoxication incidents, what’s to prevent someone at a party or social event from not being in full control of their faculties and doing something regrettable?
I understand the desire to increase safety, but introducing weapons into an already stressful environment is not the answer. All it takes is one mistake, one bad apple, to create a negative environment for the students around. Even if 99 percent of the weapon carriers have no incidents, that 1 percent can still have a significant impact. We only have to look at the recent Virginia Tech incidents to see that. I don’t see any way a 100 percent guarantee can be made that everyone with a weapon is responsible 100 percent of the time. And I don’t see how having a concealed weapon all of a sudden helps everyone deal with an armed robbery where a gun is pulled on them. As such, I don’t see any significant positives that outweigh what I see to be severe negative possibilities.
Chris Cordell
Grad AE