I have found that in general, college students favor gun control. Two recent situations, however, have validated my opinion that more students should be carrying weapons for protection.
As I wrote two weeks ago, my uncle was brutally attacked in what police are calling a robbery. He is now in a coma and fighting for his life.
I can’t help but think about what his situation would be today if he had had a gun by his side. Perhaps it would have been the same outcome, but it could have drastically changed his situation.
In the second situation, a close friend of mine came to the rescue with his gun. This friend, a chemistry student at a Baltimore-area university, asked to remain anonymous because of the negative stigma associated with gun owners, but he was nonetheless forthcoming with his story.
A few months ago, at about 7:30 p.m., he heard his door press against the doorjamb. Thinking nothing of it, he continued lying on the couch.
“Ten seconds later, I heard this loud pounding sound,” he said. “On the fourth pound, I heard shrieks.”
After peeking out the door, he saw a large man hitting a woman in the head with a hammer. As a reflex, he ran back across the hall, put bullets into his .357 magnum and ran to the scene.
“I ran in, and I just started yelling; I was nervous as hell, too,” he said. “I pretty much blurted out a bunch of words, but I basically said, ‘Stop what you’re doing.'”
The guy saw the gun and ran, while his victim lay in a pool of blood. Just the sight of a gun saved the woman’s life.
For too long, people have forgotten that guns, when used responsibly, can save lives. A responsible gun-owning population in College Park could reduce our crime rate, as criminals would know that they’d be taking a risk by committing violent acts.
With gun ownership comes great responsibility. My friend tries to go to a range once a week. For more training, he goes online. There is never enough you can read online about being a responsible gun owner, he said.
“You never stop learning,” he said. “Even a Navy SEAL of 15 years doesn’t know everything about firearms and firearm safety.”
With the crime rate so high, students walking around at night don’t feel safe walking back from the library, let alone to their own homes. In 2008, there was one rape, 10 robberies and nine aggravated assaults on the campus. There were 1,224 violent crimes in our whole police district from January through October 2008 (the latest dates for which information was available online).
Maybe students could campaign for expanding the concealed weapons permit instead of working to restrict gun ownership. Only law enforcement officials and those who have recently received “threats” against their lives receive concealed handgun permits in Maryland.
Just once, I would love to read a Diamondback headline that says, “Student defends herself against rape,” instead of “Man rapes, abandons student
off campus.”
Nathan Cohen is a junior economics and journalism major. He can be reached at cohendbk@gmail.com.
