John Stossel - Should Students Pack Heat?

Reporter John Stossel discusses the question of licensed students carrying concealed weapons on college campuses with David Burnett, President of Students for Concealed Carry on Campus and Colin Goddard with the Brady Campaign.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• SCCC
• concealed
• carry
• campus
• students
• guns
• self
• defense
• armed
• second
• amendment
• david
• burnett
• stossel

[ilorokamou]

ICOM, you argue that guns deter crime, and...maybe you're right, but I hesitate to concede the point. I would, however, like to point out two things. Number one, if effective gun control laws were enacted, Cho never would have been able to procure the weapons he used in his massacre. Two, do you really think that the thought of someone else with guns on the campus would have stopped Cho? He took his own life in the end, clearly the threat of death was not a deterrent in this situation.

[ConcealedCampus]

@ilorokamou Remember, gun laws weren't the only ones Cho violated by bringing guns onto campus, much less murdering people. Drugs are completely forbidden in the US, and criminals still get them. In fact, only criminals have them.

Cho took his own life only when he realized armed police were finally closing in. The FBI and Secret Service agree, active shooters stop only once they encounter resistence.

If you were evaluating a target, would armed citizens on campus change your mind?

[zack9912000]

I refuse to give any school a dime that does not allow me to protect myself.

[ICOM2957]

Collin Goddard just doesn't get it. First of all he threw out the "we can what if this situation a thousand times" then based his arguments all on "what ifs". The stone cold facts are that law abiding citizens carrying guns deter and prevent crime. Collin doesn't have his facts straight. I am a police officer and I along with many officers I know all support citizens carrying firearms, even on campus.

[SaintEntreri]

"When the police come in, how are they going to determine who's the good guy" ummm, because they only come in after all the victims are dead and the killer committed suicide, because their primary objective is self preservation. If someone else shot the killer before he ran out of ammo and thus out of victims, fewer lives would have been lost. It would be easy to tell because that law abiding person would then inform the police that the threat was neutralized.

[higheddy89]

@ilorokamou One, if someone wants a gun for whatever reason, they will get it regardless of any statutes. Two, yes he took his own life in the end, but all the others that lost their lives didn't get the luxury of that option. The second he slayed a second or third person, without a doubt a concealed carry in the audience would have rid him of his aggression and save the 27 other victims.

[memmm2]

@kytim89 I doubt they are 21 to begin with.....

[kytim89]

Should high school students be allowed to carry concealed fire arms?

[dreicemoney]

yeah, and how long did it take the cops to save the people at Vtech. Can't depend on the cops

[aussieconservative]

This is an amazing debate. In Australia we have big time gun control laws but we are in a position where there is so few guns (let alone an assault rifles) the likelihood that someone has a gun is very tiny. I would argue that any laws have to be made in a country as it exists, not some distant utopia that doesn't. Therefore if weapons are prevalent I think it is sensible to have the right to one yourself, for protection. There needs to be the right for self defence, to protect ones life.

[Mezey5]

I live in Texas, the gun stereotype is true.

[StateExempt]

@Paladinbr - I would agree.

The biggest advantage I think CCW holders have is that they are generally more familiar with the immediate territory where a shooting may occur.

Police would never know as much about a university in a crisis situation as the staff and students that actually go there. The latter should definitely have the right to be armed.

[Paladinbr]

@StateExempt

The majority of private gun owners who carry concealed are better marksmen than police officers.

They practice and train more than police are required to.

The best example is the fact that in NC, LEO only have to shoot 70% to qualify. CCW holders have to shoot 80%.