Guns on Pitt’s campus: Concealed danger?

It only takes a matter of seconds for a gun and a dark moment of impulsivity to end a life.

With media reports of mass shootings across America increasing, state legislators are re-examining gun laws and campus carry policies.

In 2015, there were 23 campus shootings in the United States. Ten people died in October at Umpqua Community College and a student accidentally shot himself at Beaver County Community College — right in Pitt’s backyard. These tragic events have some legislators pushing to allow concealed carry weapons on campuses so students can defend themselves in the event of a shooting.

But mass shootings are not the reason universities should keep guns off their campuses. When we account for the different forms of violence that firearms can introduce into communities, guns will not make us safer.

With more firearms available on campus, a whole new set of issues could arise with long-term ramifications including more suicide attempts, aggravated assaults and accidental shootings.

When mass shootings attract national attention, it is important to prevent fear from overcoming the sensible gun restrictions that make college campuses among the safest environments for students.

Instead of jumping to conclusions in having more firearms available, we can be strengthening security and campus police services, and investing heavily in mental health services to ensure safe college campuses.

In 23 states, including Pennsylvania, colleges or universities individually decide whether to ban or allow concealed carry weapons on campuses. Pitt — along with the overwhelming majority of public universities — does not allow any firearms or concealed weapons on campus.

Despite mass shootings appearing in the media, the gun violence rate on campuses has remained much lower than the national average of gun-related crimes.

Compared to communities surrounding campuses, on-campus grounds are much more safe, protected by the gun restrictions on most college campuses.

Given the low reports of crime at our University, having more guns available on campus would do more harm than good for our students.

While Second Amendment rights activists proudly tout the Constitution to prove their point, we need to examine whether having guns on campus is really going to lead to a safer society.

Proclaiming a right to self-defense seems to speak more about individuals’ need for power and control than it does about the collective safety of the campus.

Even the potential for concealed guns on campus is enough to bring more fear and anxiety to students riddled with uncertainty. Violent jokes, threats or misplaced anger can suddenly become a deadly reality when there are firearms in the picture. The University of California at Santa Barbara mass shooting started with a YouTube video of the killer threatening to shoot sorority women for rejecting him. That plan was executed shortly after, when the gunman shot and killed three students, stabbing three other students.

In the event that a mass shooting does occur on our campus, relying on someone to pull out their concealed weapon and defend themselves is naive and ineffective. Evidence has shown that the price we pay in offensive gun violence far outweighs the protections of defensive use.

The Gun Violence Archive reported in 2015 that there were 1,293 cases of defensive use of firearms out of the total number of instances of gun violence being 53,193. That means a mere 2.4 percent of incidents happened for defensive reasons — a rare occurrence that would not guarantee safety to our students. Accidental shootings like the one at Beaver County Community College made up a higher proportion of gun violence of 3.6 percent.

Pro-gun advocates also overlook the critical role guns play in suicide rates for college students. Students who are suffering from severe depression, anxiety or other mental illnesses can end their lives in a second with a firearm. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suicide was the second leading cause of death for young adults aged 15 to 24 in 2014.

College can take a toll on students’ mental health for a variety of reasons. The isolation, lack of supervision, peer pressure surrounding drugs and alcohol and heavy class loads can all leave students feeling overwhelmed. But most people don’t realize that having a gun within reach can be a risk factor in itself. Out of all the ways one can attempt suicide, firearms have the highest success rate.

The CDC also reported in 2016 that out of all 41,149 suicides that occurred in 2013, 21,175 of them were completed with a firearm — more than half. Firearms pose a huge risk to those who are contemplating and attempting suicide. Allowing more guns on campus grounds will only endanger students further.

Instead of oversimplifying the solution to more concealed weapons on campuses, we should be building up our campus police forces and security measures on college campuses. We can raise the standards we have for police responses and qualifications. We can enhance the ties between campus and local police. We can get the community involved with an emergency drill plan and train students in how to respond to these events.

Mass shootings are horrific, incomprehensible and destructive acts that we must not dismiss. But by responding in anxious defense and turning to more guns, we are taking a misguided path toward armed fear.

We can combat gun violence with a more comprehensive approach using common-sense gun restrictions and more mental health services for our students.

A source of violence cannot be the solution to ending it.

Kirsten Wong primarily writes on social justice issues and public policy for The Pitt News

Write to her at kew101@pitt.edu