GUEST OPINION
Dupnik: Keep guns off campuses
Sheriff believes that allowing concealed weapons at schools would do more harm than good
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Recent multiple homicides on college campuses, like those that occurred at Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois University, have inflamed the national community and brought about a call to arms that is at once understandable and dangerous.
Currently, 13 states are considering legislation that would allow individuals with concealed weapons permits to carry weapons on college campuses, Newsweek reported Feb. 15.
The reasoning is that armed individuals will either deter outright or bring to an end a shooting incident on campus.
Arizona is one of the states considering such legislation. Sen. Karen Johnson has proposed SB 1214, which would allow students with concealed weapons permits to carry those weapons on campus.
This Senate bill would not allow school policies to limit permit holders from carrying their weapons on campus.
In the mayhem that ensues when someone begins shooting in a classroom or auditorium, it is unreasonable to think young, inexperienced students will have the presence of mind to quickly and calmly engage an active shooter.
In addition, if more than one student has a concealed weapon, how is it possible to determine which individuals are involved in the attack and which ones are trying to stop it?
The danger of crossfire and unintentional victims is multiplied exponentially.
The danger is further heightened when law enforcement arrives on the scene.
In what are, by their very nature, dynamic and dangerous situations, active shooter scenarios present a challenge to all involved.
Imagine the confusion that will ensue when law enforcement arrives at an active shooter situation, with unconfirmed information about who the suspect is or even how many there are, and these same officers encounter multiple individuals with guns.
There is no doubt that the community is concerned about the safety of students on campus.
I fully support the people's right to bear arms; however, the problem of violence on campus is much too complex for a simple answer such as "more guns on campus."
Think back to Oct. 28, 2002, when our own community was rocked by a shooting by University of Arizona College of Nursing student Robert Flores, who shot and killed three nursing professors - Robin Rogers, Barbara Monroe and Cheryl McGaffic - before turning the gun on himself.
Witnesses in the room spoke of the chaos and confusion that ensued when Flores started shooting.
Enacting legislation to allow people to carry concealed weapons on school campuses is not the solution to this problem.
The reality is that such actions will further endanger innocent bystanders in these situations.
Further tragedy will occur when more lives are lost because well-intentioned but unprepared citizens faced these life and death scenarios.
Clarence W. Dupnik is sheriff of Pima County.
It's only on college campuses right now that that's NOT the case -- so where's the big epidemic of confused police? Hm, I must have missed it. Surely the Tucson Citizen would be reporting it if it's really been a problem. Well?
Or maybe it's just another "Chicken Little" argument -- you know, like the one about all the blood that would run in the street as soon as they allowed concealed weapons licenses in Arizona. Same people, different day, just as wrong.
Concealed carry permit holders continue to be the most law-abiding citizens. (This can be verified by looking at any state who publishes those statistics, such as Texas.) The educational requriements to obtain a CCW permit in Arizona provide potential holders with more knowledge about firearms use than Sheriff Dupnik obviously does not possess (many of the classes were taught by Pima County SHeriff's Deputies and other local law enforcment personnel). By allowing CCW permit holders to carry on University campuses, safety will go up and not down as the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence and Sheriff Dupnik would have you believe. If their scare tactics were true, we should have seen an increase of "blood in the streets" of Florida for the past 21 years (when Florida passed its Right To Carry law) and in Arizona for the past 14 years. This has not happened in any state with Right To Carry, much to the chagrin of the Brady Center. (Isn't that ironic that an organization who has part of their name touting the prevention of gun violence does not accept responsible firearms ownership as a proven method of reducting gun violence?)
CCW permit holders are the type of citizens who would carry on campus and increase student safety. Obviously, the majority of Sheriff's Deputies know more about crime prevention than the Sheriff himself.
Readers and taxpayers of Pima County have to remember that Sheriff Dupnik is nothing more than a politician in the generally anti-gun party spouting the emotional party line concernign firearms rather than common sense backed up with facts.