This essay is from the April 18, 2008, issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education.
GUNS DON’T BELONG IN THE HANDS OF ADMINISTRATORS, PROFESSORS, OR STUDENTS
JESUS M. VILLAHERMOSA JR.
1
In the wake of the shootings at Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois University, a number of state legislatures are considering bills that would allow people to carry concealed weapons on college campuses. I recently spoke at a conference on higher-
2
I have been a deputy sheriff for more than 26 years and was the first certified master defensive-
3
Some faculty and staff members may be capable of learning to be good shots in stressful situations, but most of them probably wouldn’t practice their firearms skills enough to become confident during an actual shooting. Unless they practiced those skills constantly, there would be a high risk that when a shooting situation actually occurred, they would miss the assailant. That would leave great potential for a bullet to strike a student or another innocent bystander. Such professors and administrators could be imprisoned for manslaughter for recklessly endangering the lives of others during a crisis.
4
Although some of the legislative bills have been defeated, they may be reintroduced, or other states may introduce similar measures. Thus, colleges should at least contemplate the possibility of having armed faculty and staff members on their campuses, and ask themselves the following questions:
Is our institution prepared to assume the liability that accompanies the lethal threat of carrying or using weapons? Are we financially able and willing to drastically increase our liability-
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How much time will each faculty and staff member be given each year to spend on a firing range to practice shooting skills? Will we pay them for that time?
Will their training include exposing them to a great amount of stress in order to simulate a real-
Will the firearm that each one carries be on his or her person during the day? If so, will faculty and staff members be given extensive defensive-
The fact that a college allows people to have firearms could be publicized, and, under public-
If the firearms are not carried by faculty and staff members every day, where and how will those weapons be secured, so that they do not fall into the wrong hands?
If the firearms are locked up, how will faculty and staff members gain access to them in time to be effective if a shooting actually occurs?
Will faculty and staff members who carry firearms be required to be in excellent physical shape, and stay that way, in case they need to fight someone for their gun?
Will weapons-
“Will faculty and staff members be prepared to kill another person?”
Will faculty and staff members be prepared to kill another person, someone who may be as young as a teenager?
Will faculty and staff members be prepared for the possibility that they may miss their target (which has occurred even in police shootings) and wound or kill an innocent bystander?
Will faculty and staff members be ready to face imprisonment for manslaughter, depending on their states’ criminal statutes, if one of their bullets does, in fact, strike an innocent person?
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Even if not criminally charged, would such faculty and staff members be prepared to be the focus of a civil lawsuit, both as a professional working for the institution and as an individual, thereby exposing their personal assets?
5
If any of us in the law-
AT ISSUE: SOURCES FOR DEVELOPING AN ETHICAL ARGUMENT
What is Villahermosa’s thesis? Where does he state it?
What is Villahermosa trying to establish in paragraph 2? Do you think this paragraph is necessary?
In the bulleted list in paragraph 4, Villahermosa poses a series of questions. What does he want this list to accomplish? Is he successful?
What arguments does Villahermosa include to support his thesis? Which of these arguments do you find most convincing? Why?
Do you think Villahermosa is making an ethical argument here? If so, on what ethical principle does he base his argument?
What points does Villahermosa emphasize in his conclusion? Should he have emphasized any other points? Explain.
Both Villahermosa and Timothy Wheeler deal with the same issue—