Editor:
I’m writing to you because I, for the most part, strongly agree with you on the stances you took in your “Guns don’t benefit education” piece you posted on The Ranger Online Oct. 19 on allowing guns in as few areas as possible on campus, if at all.
There are a few exceptions to that as well.
Students go to school, not just college, but any learning establishment to learn and build socially.
Where in the equation of furthering your education and building socially does a gun become necessary? Or even appropriate?
All of the examples of students possibly being worried or even deterred in certain situations because of the possibility of what guns can do that you gave, are on point and the level of worry you alluded to has to be heightened when you take recent events into consideration.
We do, of course, have to keep in mind that every person who owns and carries a gun is not a gunslinger or “loose cannon” simply because they own one.
Police own guns, military own guns and they’re good people.
There are a couple of points I didn’t see eye to eye with you.
One, you stated teachers might be scared of really challenging students in fear of them being armed.
You’re making it seem like students are volatile young men and women on the edge, just a slight push from going off the deep end.
There’s no reason for fear to exist in a classroom at all, especially when the gun is concealed.
My final point — this idea of invading fear coming over us all when we realize the imminent doom of being on campus with concealed gun-carrying students.
You won’t know if someone has a gun. We can’t operate under the assumption that everyone who owns a gun is crazy because a few people wielding guns were behind recent tragedies.
Jesus Heras
Journalism Freshman
