When Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker signed the bill to allow concealed carry of weapons in the state July 8, 2011, Wisconsin became the 49th state to make such a law.
The law required applicants to be 21 or older, complete a training class (either hunter or firearms safety) and undergo a background check showing that the applicant is not a felon or has any other restriction from having firearms.
Early drafts of the law had banned the carry of weapons on school grounds, but the final document only banned weapons from law enforcement offices, prisons, jails, courthouses, secure mental-health facilities and the areas of airports beyond security checkpoints.
When the law went into effect in November of 2011, the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Platteville placed signs on the doors of all campus buildings banning the carry of weapons into the buildings, taking advantage of a clause in the law allowing private business or government buildings to choose if they will allow weapons in their buildings.
There is a legitimate case for allowing the concealed carry of weapons in campus buildings, but the benefits of allowing this do not outweigh the potentially tragic risks.
Horrific incidents that have occurred at Virginia Tech University, Northern Illinois University and Lone Star College create a culture of justified fear. We ask ourselves, “What if that happened here? What would I do?”
Some answer those questions by saying that by the university allowing them to carry their weapon in the classroom, they would be able to intervene with or stop a shooter should that situation arise.
However, there are reasons that this logic fails. Shooting a deer or any other game animal, which is the most common reason for gun ownership in America, is entirely different from shooting another human being. For one thing, in the situation of an active shooter on campus, the individual wielding the gun, unlike the deer, has the ability to fire back at a person trying to stop them.
A classroom is intended to be a place for the free exchange of ideas. At times, class discussions can get intense and emotional. Were concealled carry allowed, the fact that someone in the class had a weapon may stifle expression in the discussion and the point of the exercise is lost.
Another element those who want concealed carry allowed on campus argue is that it is a Constitutional right that is being limited by the university. While this is true, the fact that UW-Platteville is a state- and federal-funded university makes for a situation that must restrict certain acts.
Restricting the concealed carry of weapons on campus is the same as not allowing those of age to drink alcohol or smoke cigarettes in campus buildings. While it is the right of those of age to partake in those acts, the restriction of doing so in a campus building is not too much to ask.
The university setting features a large amount of drinking, drug use and stress. Mixing these things with the freedom to carry weapons on campus is a dangerous cocktail that is too risky for the university to allow.
In the end, there is an ongoing balancing act between safety and individual freedoms. Universities are responsible with providing a safe, educational environment. Not allowing the concealed carry of weapons is essential to that effort.
