Nevada Legislature to take aim at gun restrictions

In the wake of the Newtown, Conn., shooting, America has been ablaze with questions. What caused Adam Lanza to kill 27 people, 20 of whom were elementary-aged children? How could such an atrocity have been prevented? And, most importantly, what are we going to do from here on out to make sure it doesn’t happen again? The list of “culprits” for the incident seems to be endless: violent films and video games, a poor mental health care system, a media glorification of violent perpetrators, a lack of security in schools, or, the big one, lax gun control. While the real reason for Lanza’s violence is perhaps a combination of complex causes, it is on the last point of gun control that I hope to expose a red herring.

The biggest school massacre that ever happened in the United States occurred in 1927 in Bath Township, Mich. The murderer, Andrew Kehoe, by blowing up their school building with dynamite, killed 39 elementary school students in addition to six adults, and injured 58 others. The attack was one of revenge, as he had been recently informed that his farm was to be foreclosed and that he had also been publicly defeated for a town clerk position. Not a single gun was used in this massacre. The same could be said of the Oklahoma City bombing, where 19 children were killed in an explosion. The lesson to be taken from these devastating mass murders is this: If someone is intent on hurting others, then whether they possess a firearm is of little consequence. Therefore, is it efficient to deprive law-abiding citizens of their constitutionally protected right to bear arms in self-defense?

If we look back on the major mass shootings that have occurred in recent decades, a pattern emerges: nearly every single one occurred in a “gun-free zone.” From Aurora to Columbine to Virginia Tech, unarmed civilians were targeted and massacred by angry, mentally unstable individuals who were looking for easy pickings. Although it is difficult to know whether the presence of a concealed carry weapon would have made a difference in these instances, I think we can safely say that criminals are less likely to go after individuals who have a means of forcefully protecting themselves and others.

At the University of Nevada, Reno, firearms are currently not allowed without the explicit permission from the university president. However, there is currently a bill on the 2013 Nevada legislative agenda called the Nevada Campus Protection Act that will enable students, staff, faculty and visitors to carry on campus. Although the university has not historically been subject to the kind of aforementioned mass killings, there have been cases of students being raped and/or murdered within the last five years, cases that could have been avoided with the earlier institution of permissible CCW permits on campus. In states where such laws have been instituted, some universities have taken extra measures to ensure student safety around firearms, such as in Wisconsin, where posted signs prohibit firearms from certain buildings or in Mississippi, where students can take a voluntary firearm safety course.

Gun control and gun rights have always been difficult subjects to breach. When violence occurs, especially such devastating violence as the murders of elementary school-aged children, it’s easy to point at the weapon and say, “There. That object is the reason for our suffering and pain.” But if firearms are not allowed to be put into the hands of responsible citizens, then the only people who possess them will be criminals and authoritarian powers. We should not use tragedy as an excuse for the violation of our rights.