Should Guns be allowed on College Campuses?

Author Note: Contents Introduction: 2 Background 2 Research Objective 3 Literature Review 3 Methodology 7 Research philosophy 7 Research Design 7 Research strategy 8 Conclusion (Anticipated Outcomes) 8 Annotated Bibliography 9 References 10 Topic: Should Guns be allowed on college campuses Introduction: Background In the light of the recent events in the colleges and education centres of the colleges of the United States are facing high levels of threats from the attacks of gunmen. Research Objective To understand the needs and importance of carrying guns in the college campus To

Running head: RESEARCH PAPER
Should Guns be allowed on college campuses?
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

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Contents
Introduction:...........................................................................................................................2
Background............................................................................................................................2
Research Objective.................................................................................................................3
Literature Review.......................................................................................................................3
Methodology..............................................................................................................................7
Research philosophy..............................................................................................................7
Research Design.....................................................................................................................7
Research strategy...................................................................................................................8
Conclusion (Anticipated Outcomes)..........................................................................................8
Annotated Bibliography.............................................................................................................9
References................................................................................................................................10

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Topic: Should Guns be allowed on college campuses
Introduction:
Background
In the light of the recent events in the colleges and education centres of the colleges of
the United States are facing high levels of threats from the attacks of gunmen. The incident of
2007 in the Virginia Tech University is one of the worst examples in the given case. The
authorities in the given cases have understand the needs to change in the legislation of the
federal state laws that will ease out the pressure of the carrying out concealed weapons at the
college campus. Higher levels of restrictions are imposed in the matters of carrying out the
guns in the educational institutes.
According to the general federal law of United States, citizens are allowed to carry
concealed weapons only if certain requirements are fulfilled. These legal requirements vary
according to individual sates requirements. 16 of the states Florida, California, Illinois,
Louisiana, Nebraska, Massachusetts, North Dakota, Nevada, Michigan, New Mexico.
Missouri, New York, South Carolina, North Carolina, Wyoming and New Jersey have
completely banned the carrying of the concealed weapons in the university and college
campus. There are other 23 states that have given the permission to the colleges and
universities for allowing the students to carry any forms of concealed weapons1. One of the
main reasons for allowing the usage of guns and other forms of concealed weapons is to
ensure high level of personal security. This has been a major area of conflict among the
federal stakeholders as the law of carrying concealed weapons are mainly restricted to the
citizens. Nevertheless, the people often have the opportunity to make misuse of the same that
ultimately results in the shooting incidents.
1Hemenway, David, Deborah Azrael, and Matthew Miller. "National attitudes concerning gun
carrying in the United States." Injury Prevention 7.4 (2001): 282-285.

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Research Purpose
Under the given circumstance the current research project will discuss about the need
of carrying guns and other concealed weapons for the students in the university campus. This
will help to suggest proper recommendations of the existing federal law structure that permits
the usage of guns in the university campus.
Research Objective
 To understand the needs and importance of carrying guns in the college campus
 To evaluate the risks of carrying guns in the college guns
 To recommend changes in the existing legal structure about the protocols of carrying
guns and concealed weapons in the college campus.
Literature Review
It is important to note that most of the low level of protection that is offered in the
action of the of gun owners is one of the major cause for high levels of concern for the
college and university students2. The allowance of the gun in the university campus can have
higher levels of consequences in the academic profession of the students. On the other hand,
it is also important to consider the fact that with higher levels of risks that are related to the
gun shooting incidents. This is one of the major consequences of the lower monitoring and
restrictions that are being imposed by the public in the matters of private usages of guns. It is
2Birnbaum, Robert. "Ready, fire, aim: The college campus gun fight." Change: The Magazine
of Higher Learning 45.5 (2013): 6-14.

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important to argue the fact about the usage of guns that is believed to have more risks and
negative consequences due to the mis-usage that is caused due to the gun users3.
The risks of the gun shooting incidents aremore in the places, where there are little or
no restrictions among the college students about the usages of the guns. The matter and the
issues related to the usages of guns have been raised after the incidents of Columbine High
Schoolin Littleton, Colorado. Here, 13 people have been killed due to the shooting action of
two teenagers. Hence, it can be concluded that the due to the carrying of guns, the common
citizens are also at the risks besides the students of every university. In another incident of
2012, at Northern Illinois University a lone gunman killed nearly 5 people and injuring 18
others. One of the important elements in all these shooting incidents is the fact that after the
crime is committed, the shooter shots them4. Hence, it can be said that gunners were mentally
disturbed during the time they committed the crime. It is therefore important to consider the
social issues with the community that cause mental disturbances among the public as they
chose to have the path of violence.
It is important to ban the usages of the gun for increasing the safety of the people in
the college communities. This is also believed to be effective to deal with the mental issues
that are caused among the people that are responsible for the suicidal nature of the people.
High mental stress that is responsible for most of the mental stress among the students. The
stress can ultimately result in the depression among the young students thereby forcing them
to indulge in all forms of violent activities. As they chose the path of legal violation, it can
destroy the future growth opportunity among the child as they are not able to deal with the
3Jenson, Jeffrey M. "Aggression and violence in the United States: Reflections on the
Virginia Tech shootings." Social Work Research 31.3 (2007): 131-134.
4Rasmussen, Chris, and Gina Johnson. "The Ripple Effect of Virginia Tech: Assessing the
Nationwide Impact on Campus Safety and Security Policy and Practice." Midwestern Higher
Education Compact (2008).

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issues of metal pressure5. This is added with the issues of pressure from the society, where
the students are not able to cope up the situation. The chance of a depressed students to
indulge in the violent activities can ultimately rises the risks of the shooting activities in the
society. This is added with the fact that most of the students have the easy access of the gun
that can instigate them to express out their inner violence6.
In order to focus on the matters of having guns, it is important to highlight the fact
that in US most of the students stay away from their home town in crime prone areas. Hence,
the use of the guns is essential for them in the matters of increasing the levels of safety. For
the students especially the girls who are residing in the dormitories, the usage of gun can be a
major source of safety7.This is added with the fact that the campuses security guards cannot
remain present everywhere and therefore, most of the students have to take in charge of their
personal security.In spite of increase in the total number of gun users the rate of crimes
related to the gun shooting has decreased in the past 40 years. Moreover, besides gun there
are other forms of lethal objects that can also be used by the students to indulge in the violent
activities. For example, there are possible lethal explosives that can be prepared by the
chemistry students.Hence, the banning of the guns cannot be the only solution to eliminate
the risks of criminal activities by the teenager students8.
5Patten, Ryan, Matthew O. Thomas, and James C. Wada. "Packing heat: Attitudes regarding
concealed weapons on college campuses." American Journal of Criminal Justice 38.4 (2013):
551-569.
6Schildkraut, Jaclyn, Collin M. Carr, and Victoria Terranova. "Armed and academic:
Perceptions of college students on concealed carry on campus policies." Journal of School
Violence (2018): 1-13.
7Morse, Andrew, et al. "Guns on campus: The architecture and momentum of state policy
action." NASPA-Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education (2016).
8Sulkowski, Michael L., and Philip J. Lazarus. "Contemporary responses to violent attacks on
college campuses." Journal of School Violence 10.4 (2011): 338-354.

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Nevertheless, due to the loopholes that exist within the current legal system, it there
are no much verification that are conducted before the gun license are being provided by the
student. For example, it is recommended by the legal advisors to access the mental health
condition of the students before they are being given official gun license. This will decrease
the risk of the mentally sick students being indulge in the violent crime activities. The past
medical mental health records also has to be evaluated that will help to evaluate the future
risks of criminal activities9.
These changes in the legal system can bring about significant changes in the overall
crime rates related to the shooting incidents in the universities and colleges. It is
recommended that importance of providing high end certified trainings to the students, who
are in needs of concealed weapons for their own high levels of safety10. Another argument
that can be provided in favour carrying the guns is college campus is the fact that it is
unethical to have different set of laws for the students in the university campus. This will
require spending of additional legal resources by the higher levels of the federal structure. A
national group, Students for Concealed Carry has been formed to ensure that the students do
not get the opportunity to make misuse of the guns as they are able to carry the concealed
weapons in the university campus and hostels11.
9Thompson, Amy, et al. "Reducing firearm-related violence on college campuses—Police
chiefs' perceptions and practices." Journal of American College Health 58.3 (2009): 247-254.
10Bennett, Katherine, John Kraft, and Deborah Grubb. "University faculty attitudes toward
guns on campus." Journal of Criminal Justice Education 23.3 (2012): 336-355.
11Webster, Daniel W., et al. "Firearms on College Campuses: Research Evidence and Policy
Implications." Center for Gun Policy and Research, Johns Hopkins University (2016).

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Under the given circumstances, it is essential for the future research work to focus on
the strategies of the federal legal system that will help to minimize the misuse of guns by the
university students.
Methodology
In this section the investigators will justify research method that will be implemented
for investigating the need of allowing concealed weapons in University campus and hostels.
With proper execution of the Research Design it will be possible to resolve the ethical issues
that are related to usage of guns by University students.
Research philosophy
The given context, it will be useful to use interpretivism research philosophy, which
mainly deals with human perception about the investigation area12. In a given case, with the
help of interpretivism philosophy it will be possible for the researchers to focus on perception
of University students and other stakeholders about the uses of gun for safety purpose. The
positivism philosophy on the other hand, will be able to justify the needs of the modification
in the legal structure that is needed to deal with the controversial issue of allowing concealed
weapons in the University Campus.
Research Design
For the given case, it will be useful to implement the descriptive form of Research
Design, which will help to consider both positive and negative aspect of allowing concealed
weapons inside the University Campus and student hostel. It will also be possible to
implement a definite set of research questions that is needed to collect proper information
from the respective stakeholders.
Research strategy
12Saunders, Mark NK, et al. "Understanding research philosophy and approaches to theory
development." (2015): 122-161.

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The research strategy for the given project will mainly implement interview and
survey procedures. This is the primary form of Data Collection, which will help the
researchers to draw proper conclusion about the subject. In the given case, the investigators
will conduct survey among at least hundred University students all across the United States.
The process of the survey will be conducted in online procedures, where the identity of
individual students will not be revealed. This is required for Ethical consideration and
avoidance of controversy that is associated with this sensitive issue.
The researchers will also conduct interview of at least 10 University legal counsellors,
which will help them to get idea about the existing legal system that are associated with
allowing concealed weapons related to the debates matter of allowing guns inside the
University Campus.
Conclusion (Anticipated Outcomes)
The anticipated outcomes of the current research work will include proper
recommendations for modifying the existing legal structure, which allows carrying of
concealed weapons by University students. It will also focus on the negative consequence of
complete ban of the handguns, which can compromise on the safety level of University
students depending on the crime rate at respective areas.

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Annotated Bibliography
Bouffard, Jeffrey A., et al. "How many more guns? Estimating the effect of allowing
licensed concealed handguns on a college campus." Journal of interpersonal violence 27.2
(2012): 316-343
The author have intended to estimate and note the current legal system of the United
States regarding the banning of carrying of handguns or any other lethal weapon within the
university campuses in this article. In the current era, the estimation of the impact of
permitting the use of lethal weapons like licensed guns at the college campus has been one of
the chief controversial matters of the federal legal structures. Researches that have been
conducted for certifying the successful result regarding the debate of allowance to carry lethal
weapons in the campus of the university are certainly very limited in number. Investigators
faces chief difficulties to guess the situational conflicts that can occur because of completely
banning the carrying of handguns or any other lethal weapon within the university campuses.
In this article the research has been conducted on the sample size of undergraduate
learners from five institutions of academics in Texas to examine the outcomes in the learners
after national legal authority imposed ban over carrying concealed weapons.
After the proper analysis of the collected data, it has been concluded that the
consequence of this law enforcement will depend on the frequency of using different lethal
weapons among the student within the collage and hostel campus. Therefore, as per the
analysis of this article it can be concluded that the impact of the existing safety measurements
will depends on the effective changes in existing policies concerning the practice of carrying
guns and other lethal weapons in University Campus. However, the major limitation of the
study is the chosen sample size is not adequate to accurately analyse and examine the topic.

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References
Bennett, Katherine, John Kraft, and Deborah Grubb. "University faculty attitudes toward
guns on campus." Journal of Criminal Justice Education 23.3 (2012): 336-355.
Birnbaum, Robert. "Ready, fire, aim: The college campus gun fight." Change: The Magazine
of Higher Learning 45.5 (2013): 6-14.
Hemenway, David, Deborah Azrael, and Matthew Miller. "National attitudes concerning gun
carrying in the United States." Injury Prevention 7.4 (2001): 282-285.
Jenson, Jeffrey M. "Aggression and violence in the United States: Reflections on the Virginia
Tech shootings." Social Work Research 31.3 (2007): 131-134.
Morse, Andrew, et al. "Guns on campus: The architecture and momentum of state policy
action." NASPA-Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education (2016).
Patten, Ryan, Matthew O. Thomas, and James C. Wada. "Packing heat: Attitudes regarding
concealed weapons on college campuses." American Journal of Criminal Justice 38.4 (2013):
551-569.
Saunders, Mark NK, et al. "Understanding research philosophy and approaches to theory
development." (2015): 122-161.
Schildkraut, Jaclyn, Collin M. Carr, and Victoria Terranova. "Armed and academic:
Perceptions of college students on concealed carry on campus policies." Journal of School
Violence (2018): 1-13.
Thompson, Amy, et al. "Reducing firearm-related violence on college campuses—Police
chiefs' perceptions and practices." Journal of American College Health 58.3 (2009): 247-254.
Webster, Daniel W., et al. "Firearms on College Campuses: Research Evidence and Policy
Implications." Center for Gun Policy and Research, Johns Hopkins University (2016).