Gun on campus position paper - Essay Example

Campus is among the safest havens in American society. This year pro-gun organizations will again work to overturn campus bans on guns, including in Florida and Texas, where the debate on the issue has been persistent. AASCU with a backing of 370 colleges and universities in 41 states is engaged in a campaign to keep guns off campus. As articulated in its Public Policy Agenda, AASCU opposes state legislation that seeks to strip institutional and system authority to regulate concealed weapons on campus.

Three divides exists in the United States. First, five states, which include Colorado, Mississippi, Oregon, Utah, and Wisconsin have laws allowing “concealed carry” at public colleges and universities. The rest consists of 21 states that do not permit concealed weapons on campuses and 24 leaving the colleges to decide on their gun regulations. The aftermath of Virginia Tech massacre in 2007 left 33 people dead (Guys and guns amok: domestic terrorism and school shootings from the Oklahoma City Bombing to the Virginia Tech massacre, 2008).

A similar incidence at Northern Illinois University resulted in the death of six people. Many views were generated concerning campus gun policies in the state legislatures. Progressive increase in the number of states permitting concealed carry at public institutions has been recorded in the last decade (Smith, 2012). For instance, in 2011 and 2012, state lawmakers presented about 34 bills lobbying for concealed handguns on campuses. Most of those bills failed to pass. As different concerns arise from the need to permit concealed carry, many of the bills are back on the docket this year.

According to the American Council of Education article, two Supreme Court cases have broadened the application of the Second Amendment, which is the right to bear arms. While most states incorporate this right in their constitutions, the decision in McDonald v. Chicago held