School shooting raises questions about guns on campus

On Oct. 10, a 14-year-old boy walked into his Ohio school armed with a gun and started shooting his fellow students. He wounded four people before turning the gun on himself.

This latest school shooting raises the question: Are we truly safe on campus?

School-related shootings are not a new thing; although, after the killings at Columbine High School, there has been much more media attention given to them.

Before April, it seemed as if the killings were all on high school campuses. Then, at Virginia Tech, a gunman shot 33 people.
Could that number have been lower if another student or a professor would have been legally carrying a firearm? We will never know the answer to that.

"Had I been there, I would have tried to stop him. I would like to think that I would have shot back and tried to contain the gunman until the police arrived," said Tim Crawley, a UVSC nursing major.

Crawley has a Utah state concealed-weapons permit. He is also aware that Utah is the only state that expressly allows concealed firearms on campus. This law was passed by the state legislature in 2004. The University of Utah tried to fight allowing guns on campus, but the law was upheld.

Applications for concealed-carry permits are at an all-time high in Utah, 16,138 in 2006. If the applicant receives the permit, that person is then able to legally carry a concealed firearm just about anywhere in the state, except houses of worship or private residences.

Like many others, Crawley feels safer knowing that he can defend himself and others around him should it be necessary.

Crawley said, "I’m not going to run around shooting people. I just like the feeling of safety that comes with having this permit.