Heck of a lot EASIER for a guy to rape a girl if he has a gun.
Heck of a lot EASIER for frat guys to haze one another (drink dangerous amounts of alcohol, be outside without proper clothing, etc) if they have guns.
But @Pizzagirl, the rational, risk averse rapist would also calculate that the victim might have a gun and be willing and able to use it against him. That will make all the difference. 8-}
And goodness knows rapists are surely sensible!
^^ Exactly, PG! Especially when they’re drunk 19-year-olds!
I don’t understand how a gun is supposed to help in the situations we want to prevent here. We’re talking about situations where right before the assault, the assaulter and the victim are already at least within arm’s length of each other. Why is her gun going to be any easier for her to grab than it is for him to grab? He’s bigger and stronger than she is.
I can see young women getting convicted for 2nd degree murder because they can’t prove a rape was occurring. This is a terrible idea for so many reasons.
I’m a college freshman with a gun. I go to a fraternity party or a house party, dressed in my tight short dress and stiletto heels. Where do I put my gun? Am I going to wear a holster over my dress, or under it? Do I put it in my clutch? I go into a different room with one or several guys. Do I have my clutch? Can I get my gun out fast enough when one of them grabs me?
I’m encouraged to see that the majority of respondents seem to think mixing guns and alcohol is a really bad idea. It will definitely cause more problems than it solves.
Me too, @StoriesToTell . Unfortunately, the lawmakers in some states don’t have the same common sense we seem to have.
As pointed out above, nobody really thinks that arming college students will significantly reduce the number of sexual assaults on campus. The people who say they think this are lying, pure and simple. We don’t have to pretend to believe them.
I agree, but something doesn’t have to prevent most of the sexual assaults to be good policy. Allowing firearms gives people some means to protect themselves. Maybe an analogy I could come up with is say a school is considering extending the hours of their library. Maybe no one will use the libraries in those hours, so the students won’t get more studying done, but it still gives the students that opportunity to use the library in these extended hours.
So again, there is the assumption that you are arming women against predators that come armed from off campus. That’s the only way that arming students would somehow shift the balance of power. Otherwise predatory students are just as likely to be the ones taking advantage of the proposed change.
I was in the library a little after midnight last semester, when a gunman came in and fired a number of shots and injured 3 people. I have never felt so helpless in that moment, I have my concealed carry permit, but cannot bring my gun onto campus just as I can’t bring it to a bar or a bank. Thank god that campus police quickly handled the situation, but I don’t trust them to be able to handle the situation every time. I don’t buy the reducing sexual assault argument, but I sure as heck feel safer when I’m able to carry.
But why should anyone trust you to be safely carrying or shooting YOUR gun on campus? Every day there is a new tragedy from a fire arm that was improperly stored or used and because you feel that you are responsible and safe do you automatically trust that every other person who wants to carry will be equally safe?
The last thing anyone needs is a circular firing squad in the library with every student pulling out a gun.
Because I hope the required concealed carry training and classes will be enough to make me know how to properly use and handle a gun.
“But why should anyone trust you to be safely carrying or shooting YOUR gun on campus? Every day there is a new tragedy from a fire arm that was improperly stored or used and because you feel that you are responsible and safe do you automatically trust that every other person who wants to carry will be equally safe?”
It seems to me this statement is a bit condescending. If VT has a concealed carry permit, he/she has already satisfied whatever training and safety requirements the people of his/her State deem necessary. Private universities are free to restrict firearms on campus, and state legislatures are free to impose similar restrictions at state universities. But let’s give VT the credit he/she is due. VT isn’t just someone who wants to carry because he “feels” that he is competent and safe to do so. VT has been certified by his/her state as competent and safe to carry concealed. The availability of concealed carry permits hasn’t transformed any state into the wild west. If you believe college campuses would be different, shouldn’t the burden be on you to explain why? Based on the tone of your comments, I have to ask, do you know anyone with a concealed carry permit, or even any gun owners?
I am not saying that VT would not be competent and careful and well trained. I AM saying that in this world there are lots of people who have been trained and certified in things and feel prepared and whatnot and there are also a lot of accidents. There are people who have been licensed to pilot a plane who I wouldn’t go up in the air with. Fortunately I have that choice to avoid that risk (unless they land their plane on my house). There are people who have been awarded a driver’s license who I avoid on the road because they appear to not really know what they are doing. I live in an area with many newly licensed adult drivers who have jumped through the right training and testing requirements to legally operate a motor vehicle but still have no business doing it based on visible evidence. I can’t imagine that the CC process is that much different. There will be plenty of people who fulfill all legal requirement who I wouldn’t trust with my life in a tight space with snap judgements.
Yes, my husband is a gun owner although he does not have a concealed carry permit and I have several family members who do have CC permits that I am aware of.
Actually, my cousin who I know to have a concealed carry permit is also a pilot and I HAVE been up in a small plane with him.
“Because I hope the required concealed carry training and classes will be enough to make me know how to properly use and handle a gun.”
I get that VT and do not dispute it. You know yourself and trust yourself and I take you at your word. However, If you give a concealed weapon to every person in that library, or dorm or fraternity I like the odds less and less.