University Business - April 2012 - (Page 44)

Guns on Campus violence on campus is a rare occurrence. “I worked for the police department here for 20 years and I’m still in close contact with our campus police officers who are from our local PD, and there have been no incidents at all,” notes Colorado Mesa’s Reece. That sentiment is echoed by Andrew Pelosi, spokesman for the Campaign to Keep Guns Off Campus. The group was launched in 2008 over concern that the Virginia Tech tragedy would result in a legislative push to change current laws and force concealed weapons on campus. Presidents, chancellors, and police chiefs from 320 four- and two-year schools in 37 states might have made it worse,” he says. “First of all, criminals use stealth, and because of that, people don’t have the time to respond and are not prepared to use their guns when they need them. Also when there is a shooting, there is so much confusion that people often don’t even know where the shots are coming from. If people start pulling out their guns, they may be mistaken as the shooter and be shot themselves.” And, says Kenny, training—no matter how thorough—only goes so far. “We found that, even with law enforcement officers, although we train them, it there is very little you can do at that point.” Violence, he says, is a process, and administrators must understand this to help make their schools safer. A campus should have a threat assessment team consisting of representatives from all areas, including the dean of students, legal counsel, mental health, the provost’s office, criminal justice, psychology, student affairs and more. In nearly all such shooting incidents, there are prior events that might have alerted such a team, had they known of them. “We need to get below the surface and start recognizing and intervening,” he says. “When you see something suspicious, don’t try to analyze it, just report it and let the pros do it. It’s like a puzzle. Sometimes it’s not clear what all the pieces mean on their own, but if you have a mechanism for getting all the pieces together, it becomes pretty obvious what’s at play.” Pelosi notes that concealed carry groups like SCC are well funded and well organized. “They do a good job of getting their folks to take action, whether it be making phone calls, sending emails, or contributing money. But I think, with this issue, we have support from people who know that a change in the law will directly impact thousands of people, whether they are students, faculty, or staff.” As concealed carry laws make their way through legislative systems, Pelosi says presidents and students are rallying for a big push back. “We feel if we can get our message out there, we can show people that this has gone too far. There’s no reason to be carrying guns on campus. There has to be other ways to reduce crime besides arming people.” ‘Campuses are very safe environments. Introducing guns has the potential to make them unsafe environments.’ —Andrew Pelosi, Campaign to Keep Guns Off Campus have signed onto the campaign’s resolution opposing concealed carry legislation. “From a safety standpoint, campus homicide is almost nonexistent and crime is very low,” Pelosi says. “Yes, there are instances where off-campus crime is very high, there’s no doubt about that, but generally, campuses are very safe environments, and we think introducing guns has the potential to make them unsafe environments.” James Kenny, an associate professor of criminal justice at Fairleigh Dickinson University (N.J.), agrees. A former U.S. Treasury Dept. officer, Kenny specializes in threat assessment and conflict management, and was a violence prevention consultant at Virginia Tech following the shootings. Kenny says that, as a gun owner himself, he appreciates what firearms can and cannot do. Yet he does not think arming students or faculty would have prevented the tragedy at Virginia Tech. “If you put a gun in the right person’s hands, in the right situation with the right training and the right mindset, then yes, it’s possible that it would have lessened the tragedy. But it’s also very possible that it doesn’t mean they are mentally ready to use a gun when they need to. These are professionals. Should we expect that the public would be prepared physically as well as mentally to use a gun?” The problem is compounded by studies that show that, even with superior marksmanship training, law enforcement officers in a live fire scenario hit their intended targets only around 25 percent of the time. Pelosi believes that concealed gun carriers might make situations like Virginia Tech worse. Moreover, the argument that knowing someone might be carrying a firearm could be a deterrent doesn’t hold water. “I can’t get into Seung-Hui Cho’s head, but I don’t think he was worried about any kind of resistance,” he says. “He was on a mission and he was going to do what he was going to do.” Resources Campaign to Keep Guns Off Campus www.keepgunsoffcampus.org National Crime Information Center www.fas.org/irp/agency/doj/fbi/is/ncic .htm Students for Concealed Carry http://concealedcampus.org Alternative Approaches While conducting seminars at Virginia Tech, Kenny says there was one question on everyone’s mind. “They asked me what to do if someone comes up to you with a gun. I said you duck and you run, because 44 | April 2012 universitybusiness.com http://www.keepgunsoffcampus.org http://www.fas.org/irp/agency/doj/fbi/is/ncic.htm http://www.fas.org/irp/agency/doj/fbi/is/ncic.htm http://www.concealedcampus.org http://www.universitybusiness.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of University Business - April 2012

University Business - April 2012
Editor’s Note
College Index
Ad Index
Behind the News
Financial Aid
Viewpoint
Independent Outlook
Models of Efficiency
Guns on Campus
Campus Finance
Internet Technology
End Note
Contents

University Business - April 2012