Reply #16: In an ideal world, I might agree with you [View All]

The problem is, we don't live in an ideal world, and there is plenty of evidence that so-called "gun free zones" cannot be relied upon to stop persons intent on nefarious activity from carrying a firearm onto a college or university campus. "Gun free zones" didn't stop the shootings at Virginia Tech, Northern Illinois University, University of Alabama Huntsville, etc., nor has it prevented various armed robberies on University of Washington grounds, or the rape at gunpoint of a student at The Evergreen State College a couple of years ago, to name but a few examples.

It's not enough to say guns shouldn't be allowed on campus: you actually have to do something to enforce such a ban, or the only people you're going to disarm are the prospective victims of crime, not the criminals. Or am I supposed to think that someone already intent on committing a class A/1st degree felony is going be deterred by the threat of an additional charge for illegally carrying?

But institutions of higher learning are consistently unwilling to do what it takes, which would be to implement levels of security like those found in courthouses and penal facilities; they don't want "to turn the school into a fortress." Which means any gun ban is in effect worthless, in that it'll only be obeyed by people who weren't intent on committing a violent crime with a firearm in the first place.