On March 11, a bill passed through the Georgia State Senate amidst a torrent of controversy, further catalyzing an already contentious, longstanding public debate. HB 859 makes radical changes to Georgia gun law by legalizing the concealed carry of handguns at all public postsecondary institutions.
Actions and ideas which we perceive suspect will always be subject to due scrutiny. HB 859, regardless of its current inapplicability to private institutions like Emory University, necessitates discussion and dissent. As the bill is currently written, the legislative body has failed to craft a solution that alleviates a growing anxiety over safety on college campuses that has been expressed repeatedly by faculty, students and their parents alike. Fear should not be the basis of law, and law not the cause of fear. The legislature’s chosen course of action is just that.
To be clear, there is an undeniable right for all those on public grounds to enjoy a feeling of security. It is understandable that some identify this feeling with an necessity to increase the proliferation of firearms for self-defense; however, countless studies have indicated a contrary reality. More guns are neither sufficient nor necessary to ensure this right.
To be issued a concealed carry permit in the state of Georgia, an individual is required to demonstrate technical proficiency in firearm use. What the individual is not necessarily trained or prepared for is the panic and chaos of an active shooter. The addition of someone who does not have said training to such a scenario could only confuse and make chaotic a situation that does not need extra chaos or confusion.
An effective and adaptable police force on campus is better suited to prevent future national and individual tragedies. More training, better developed response plans and improved communications systems on campus are potentially more effective methods to improve the outcomes of real attacks and reduce the fears of potential ones. Adding more guns is not.
Speaking as a group of college students, the presence of guns on campus would not contribute to a safe atmosphere. The mere idea that any person who is 21 or older and holds a permit could be armed on campus without the necessary and proper vetting of community officers is deleterious to the college learning experience and the safety of students, faculty and staff.
Further, increasing the presence of and access to guns on campus would contribute to an actively unsafe environment. Heated arguments between people can quickly become deadly when passion and impulse are paired with a deadly weapon. A machine designed to kill is not something that should be added to an environment that encourages disagreement and discussion on contentious issues.
The Georgia legislature has not put the interests of college students at the forefront of its efforts, nor has it demonstrated a proper, nuanced understanding of the necessary means of creating a safer campus atmosphere. We urge Governor Nathan Deal to veto this bill and make paramount students’ safety.
The above staff editorial represents the majority opinion of the Wheel’s Editorial Board.
The Emory Wheel was founded in 1919 and is currently the only independent, student-run newspaper of Emory University. The Wheel publishes weekly on Wednesdays during the academic year, except during University holidays and scheduled publication intermissions.
The Wheel is financially and editorially independent from the University. All of its content is generated by the Wheel’s more than 100 student staff members and contributing writers, and its printing costs are covered by profits from self-generated advertising sales.
Very poorly researched. I respect your opinion but your facts are not correct.
All adults 21 and older that are granted a permit to carry a gun are vetted by their local probate judge, fingerprinted by their local sheriff and then the fingerprints are sent to the GBI and the FBI and vetted. Those who carry are the safest demographic in Georgia.
Of the 8 states and over 150 colleges and universities that already allowed campus carry, with a combined total of over 1500 semester hours, there have been no gun crimes, threats or even a suicide attempt by a legal gun carrier.
Guns are already being carried by criminals, even on Emory University. By not allowing guns on public campuses, it only ensures that criminals have a safe working environment and doesn’t make other students safer.
From your post: “there is an undeniable right for all those on public grounds to enjoy a feeling of security” There is no such right. You are responsible for your own feelings. Your fear of legal gun carriers is unfounded and no facts back up that position. However, there is an undeniable right that each student has the right to defend their life and body. And even with many years of legal campus carry in the US, there are no indications that it has led to any student being less safe.
The fingerprinting requirement was repealed in 2014. Show me in any Constitution where there is a “right” to feel safe in public spaces. Some male idiot with a keyboard writing emotional hysterics wrote this. He doesn’t know the law or anything about guns.
The fingerprinting requirement is still in place for new applications. The 2014 legislation only repealed the requirement for renewals. Please actually read the bill before making false statements.
Here’s some actual research, not the usual NRA/Lott talking points.
1) Gun-free campuses are protective for homicide. Students are 20 times less likely to be killed in or around Georgia’s higher ed campus gun-free zones, compared to the rest of the state:
Georgia state homicide rate: 6.1
Georgia campus homicide rate: 0.27
(avg. rate / 100,000 population, 2005-2014. FBI UCR, USDofEd)
2) Gun-free campuses are protective for suicide.
“Since 1960, the suicide rate for students has consistently been about half the rate of the general US population, matched for age and gender. This highly favorable relative suicide rate is the result of firearms having been effectively banned from campuses.” / Four eras of study of college student suicide in the United States: 1920-2004 (Schwartz A J 2006)
3) There has been no report of a crime having been stopped by a citizen licensed concealed carrier in any early-adopter state. However, Mississippi, Colorado, Idaho, Utah, Texas, and New York have each seen at least one negligent discharge by a licensee carrying legally on a campus or school grounds, with 2 of 7 resulting gunshot wounds considered life-threatening. Utah experienced one homicide by a licensee (Mary Nance Hanson 2010).
On campuses and school grounds where concealed carry was not legal, there have been at least 5 additional homicides by licensed concealed carriers. Robert Flores, Jr. killed 3 of his nursing instructors over failing grades, before taking his own life, at Arizona in 2002. A college librarian in Texas (Alan Godin) killed a colleague over a tenure dispute in 2008, and a middle school custodian (Brian Allen McGuire) killed his supervisor as a result of workplace conflict in 2010.
Safer with these guys around? Get real.
Gun-free campuses are protective for suicides??? How many suicides were there at college campuses over the past 1500+ semesters of campus carry across the country? And how many of those were by a legal concealed carrier?? I’ll give you a hint; it’s less than one.
None of your hysterical Wild West predictions have come true so far. You can’t demonstrate any increased danger by allowing campus carry yet you ignore violent crime stats. That’s irrational and a disservice to the thousands of students that will be victims of violent crimes on campuses this year.
“Georgia state homicide rate: 6.1
Georgia campus homicide rate: 0.27
(avg. rate / 100,000 population, 2005-2014. FBI UCR, USDofEd)”
That shows that the college demographic is more law-abiding than communities plagued with poverty, high school dropouts and career criminals. Is that your big revelation?
The fact is, there are more homicides on campus than there are concealed carriers that commit homicides in all of Georgia- per capita or any way you want to figure it.
It is clear whoever wrote this article had no interest in seeking out the facts. This is just fear mongering tactics at it’s finest. I guess one could also conclude that the author maybe did do their research and since the info they found did not fit their agenda they decided to just make things up to incite fear. Horrible journalist to say the least.
You are at a college, so when you try to write an opinion piece. Cite your sources of your “facts” you are missing quite a few.
You are correct, young Emory Wheel staff. Young people like you can’t be trusted with their rights… Including their 1st Amendment one.