Should firearms be allowed in schools Research Paper

Should firearms be allowed in schools - Research Paper Example This makes it possible for intruders to access the premises and eventually mingle with unsuspecting students even in places such as dormitories, which are supposed to be out of bounds to strangers and other unauthorized persons (Newman, 2004). Furthermore, the ratio of security officers to civilians is never adequate to the extent of guaranteeing personal security to every individual unless every person undertakes to incur the expenditure of hiring personal body guards, who sometimes may turn out to be a bother as there is no way it would work if each and every student was accompanied by such guards to their lecture halls (Kopel, 2002). If this proposition is made legal, a methodology of ensuring compliance with the rules of handling guns would be brought forward in addition to constant evaluation on a student’s conduct to ensure that only those with sound and sober minds are allowed the privilege so as to avoid unethical behavior. If police officers, qualified civilians and o ther government security agencies can be entrusted to carrying guns, students can also be trained for example by introducing gun handling and usage lessons so as to make them responsible and aware of the consequences of not following laid down rules and regulations. The Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, shootings should be considered as a point of reference by those who may be misinformed on the vulnerability of college students. According to reports, an unknown armed person gained access to the institution on the 16th April 2007. Apparently, the said person embarked on a shooting spree whereby he killed two students in one of the dormitories and less than three hours later, he shot and killed 30 others in a classroom after which he committed suicide bringing the total number of deaths to 33, an occurrence that was termed as, â€Å"the deadliest shooting rampage in the American history (Hauser & O’Connor, 2007).† If students were allowed to carry guns, there is a high probabi lity that the number of victims would have been lower based on the fact that they would have used their weapons to overpower and probably kill the shooter before he could cause more damage as he did. On the contrary, most of the students tried to escape through the windows while others slept on the floor as a cover as there was no way they could have challenged the shooter. College students especially females should be allowed to carry guns as a measure to control the ever increasing rate of sexual assault both by acquaintances and unknown assailers. Women are generally considered to be weak in terms of defense especially when challenged by fellow men, who are considered to be more masculine thereby energetic. According to 2008 reports, more than 3000 college students are allegedly sexually assaulted within the institutions on yearly basis. Indeed, the same reports indicate that of all college men interviewed, 60% admitted that they would rape their fellow female friends under any c ircumstances deemed justifiable to them (Burnet, 2009). A woman needs protection and this has not been forthcoming in most of the colleges whereby culprits are allowed to go scot-free due to lack of substantial evidence whereas others are expelled from college only to return later