Campus-carry gun laws easily dismissed due to flawed logic

Lawmakers in 10 states are vying for the passage of bills that would permit the carrying of concealed firearms on college campuses, arguing that likely victims of sexual assault -- female students, as they are so predominately defined by these lawmakers -- would be safer if they were allowed to have guns in their possession, some going so far as to say that it if a student is raped, the blame falls on anti-“campus-carry law” lobbyists.

There are a plethora of fatal flaws in this ideology, the most obvious being that the presence of firearms within the student body is a dangerously irresponsible concept. While supporters of less restrictive gun laws vehemently argue that the mere understanding that others may be in possession of these weapons works as prevention of violence, this is simply not true. Studies based on federal data suggest that states with high rates of gun ownership and, likewise, less restrictive gun policies, are responsible for a larger portion of gun deaths than states that limit the rights of individuals to own firearms. In light of recent incidences of school shootings, it seems almost intuitive that keeping these powerful weapons as far away from campuses as possible should be lawmakers’ and university officials’ main priority.

Or, at the very least, policy makers should be acknowledging the university setting is perhaps the worst possible environment for weapons to be placed in the hands of the general public. Certain aspects of college culture, including partying, binge drinking and other health-threatening habits, would become more dangerous if there happened to be a firearm present. Promoters of the campus-carry laws seem to fail to acknowledge that passing these bills would not just place permission for gun possession into the hands of otherwise “helpless” sexual assault victims, but into the hands of potential perpetrators, as well.

This proposed "solution" also perpetuates the misinformed idea that sexual assault happens in dark alleys and between two strangers, when this is often not the case. Furthermore, over-emphasis on self-defense places partial blame for sexual assault on the victims instead of working prevent perpetrators from acting. Passing campus-carry laws “in defense” of sexual assault victims not only fosters a false sense of security among students and acts as sorry excuse for responsibility being taken by the university and the law, but de-legitimizes sexual assault that occurs by someone the victim knows or in a situation where perhaps the encounter began as one that was consensual -- both circumstances in which a victim may not want to use a weapon even if it were at her disposal. Not to mention the fact that these pro campus-carry policymakers are entirely ignoring that sexual assault frequently does not align with antiquated ideas of the gender binary in which one gender is exclusively victimized by another, but across all spectrums of gender and sexuality.

The idea of allowing guns on college campuses is dangerous in its promotion of violence and desensitization to the idea that firearms are, in fact, murderous weapons. It is also dangerous due to the precedents it would set, the misconstrued ideas it would promote and the power it would place in the hands of lawmakers who do not understand what could surely be harmful to university students across the United States.