Where is the need?

Basically what you are stating is that after further discussion on the topic with people who have been reading the "Brady Campaign" website, you can say without a doubt that concealed carry on campus is a stupid idea.

You have to have a complete criminal and civil background check. This ensures that you have not been arrested for any crimes and that you were telling the truth on your permit application. Then you have to take a course with an accredited NRA basic pistol instructor. If he/she does not see you fit, he/she will not pass you.

I also could have told you that only those diagnosed with mental illness are prevented from obtaining a license. How else would one determines one's mental health? I assumed that was obvious.

Persons with undiagnosed mental illness obtaining a concealed handgun permit is possible. There is no denying that. The chances of that happening are slim. Why would a person, planning a shooting at a school, waste their time to get legal permission to have a gun on them? They are about to break the law in the worst way... remember?

A taser is an alternative but in my opinion (and many others for that matter) it is not an equal alternative. With a taser you have to wait until the target is within 20 feet. All of the accredited handgun defense schools teach 21 feet as the "Point Of No Return". A fully grown man standing 21 feet away with his hands in his pockets can advance, reach out and grab you in less time than it takes for you to draw a firearm from concealment to protect yourself. If the taser was an acceptable alternative, cops would have turned in their guns when the X-26 came out.

Lastly, you should have talked to some people that have been trained to carry. "Shoot to kill" is another one of those "loaded" phrases that the Brady Campaign uses to fuel the "anti" fire. Concealed carry permit holders do not shoot to kill. We shoot to gain control of the situation. Shoot to disable. Shoot to STOP. A side effect to being shot is death but that is not the initial motive behind a defensive shooting. The primal instinct of human beings (and every other sentient being on this planet) is survival. Come at me and I will protect myself with every tool I can find. My preferred tool happens to be a firearm.

The sad part is that you stated "Shoot to kill isn't the best way of stopping CRIMINALS". I originally took you as an uninformed subject. Now I see that you are in fact a sheep. You have the "Give them what they want" mentality. That is the mentality that got those kids killed at Virginia Tech. They sat on their knees while the shooter executed them one by one. One teacher fought back. ONE.

Did those friends of yours tell you that over 60 % of all lawful defensive handgun uses result in the criminal leaving before a shot is ever fired? I would wager that they didn't.

We can talk this out and I can inform you but you have to be willing to take opinions from both sides. The side that have "Researched" the topic and my side, the side that "LIVES" the topic.

First, I'd like to say that I was coming back to my dorm from a night of playing rock band with friends. My hair had been through a day of wind, and stuff like that. Thank you for pointing out its length and poofiness, blackfork, the hair has grown much longer and will be going to Locks of love as soon as it's 12 inches long, I can now put it into a ponytail so it doesn't look like it does in the video.

And big tough Irish guy, OMG! That's hilarious. I'm stocky, but I'm 5'5, and not that type. If you could see the rest of my shirt, you'd see that it's a play on the Irish stereotype, the full shirt reads, Fight me, I'm Irish. I'm a nerd. Most women could probably do better in fighting off a criminal.

I still believe it's best to prevent gun ownership on campus because it creates too many opportunities for the less law abiding students, and for things to go worse than they would have.

Let's say a man is being robbed. Right as the robber points his gun at the man, the man returns the favor. The robber could either shoot or run, what's to say he doesn't shoot? Had the man not had the gun, the robber would have taken his money, but the man had a gun, so to preserve his own life, the robber shot the man. Sure, the reverse outcome would have been better than if he had no gun, but there's a 50/50 chance the robber's going to shoot.

I wasn't quite able to put those words together at the time because it was around 2 in the morning, if I remember correctly.

Ok, so you assume that having a gun increases your chances of being harmed in an armed robbery? Are you kidding?

The liberal "Give the criminal what they want and they will leave you alone" argument is completely ignorant. I could care less what a criminal wants. If someone is pointing a firearm at me it is a threat of great bodily injury or even death. A threat of great bodily injury or death is reason for me to attempt to stop the situation by any means neccesary. I'm not going to wait and see what the lowlife wants. I am going to take over the situation if I can and give him what he is going to get and it isn't my wallet.

Most criminals are cowards. Most of them don't want a fight but assuming that they mean you no harm could end up being a life ending mistake.

There's no winning an argument on the internet. I learned that years ago, I posted my reply to defend against the comments about my personal appearance, which should have nothing to do with the topic. And elaborate on what I'm trying to say. My comment says quite well one aspect of why guns shouldn't be allowed, the video says the other. But I'll leave you with another situation.

A man brings a gun to school hoping to do harm with it (and you do know that practically anyone can buy a gun, seeing as how most school shooters had them and they were crazy). Say guns aren't allowed, the man's roommate finds the gun and reports it. The gun is confiscated and the man is punished. If guns are allowed, the roommate finds the gun and can only be uncomfortable about it until the man goes about his killing spree.

If you see a gun, by all means report it. If the person in possession of the firearm is a licensed concealed carry permit holder there will be no problem (After all, those are the only people we are asking to be allowed to carry). If the firearm is either illegal or the person in possession of it does not have a concealed carry permit then he/she does not have permission to bring it onto school property and it will be treated as a crime.

Why not allow law abiding, concealed carry permit holding citizens the right to carry a firearm on them like they do everywhere else in their day to day routine? What is it about a school campus that makes people believe a man with a gun cannot be trusted? Is there some line you step over when entering a school campus that makes you lose all self control and compassion for your fellow man?

I think people need to open their eyes and look at facts and statistics before opening their mouths on a subject that they know nothing about. I understand that this is an extremely emotional subject. Some people are inoculated from birth to avoid, fear and even despise firearms. This is a fact. Concealed carry permit holders accounted for less than .1 percent of all crime and 0.0 percent of all violent crime throughout the last year.

Statistically speaking, being a concealed carry permit holder, I am 14 times less likely to commit a violent crime and 5 times less likely to commit any other crime THAN YOU! It is a known fact that concealed carry permit holders are not the ones causing the crime here in this country. We are the good guys. Carrying guns does not make us "loose cannons" or "paranoid". It means that we feel responsible for our own safety, the safety of our loved ones and the safety of the innocent people around us every day.

Well, I don't think I said this earlier, but my knowledge on the topic is limited, I only know that I was asked if I believe allowing people to carry guns on campus would be a good thing, and it wouldn't be good to allow anyone licensed to carry a gun to have one on campus because most school shooters legally acquired guns, and they extremely unstable. But are people tested for mental stability when they're given a concealed carry permit? If they are, fine then. I really knew nothing about the permit before I looked the comments back over.

When applying for a concealed carry permit (CHP here in Louisiana), depending on what state you reside in, there are different requirements. Here in Louisiana you must complete a basic handgun safety course and qualify on a live range with your firearm at the same distances and with the same requirements as a police officer. You must then submit an application to the Louisiana State Police Concealed Handgun Permit Office.

On that application is your full name, social security number, place of residence for the past fifteen years, current and past employers for the past fifteen years, reference numbers, any arrest records, speeding tickets, non moving violations... Things of that sort. If you have had your record expunged for any reason you must go to court and retrieve the official minutes with proof.

Then you must submit fingerprint cards and a picture that has been taken within the past six months. You must submit to a federal and state criminal background and medical background check. If anything comes up incorrect on your application (As small as a misspelling on the report in any manner) the application is rejected and you go back to square one.

It is not a simple process. It takes time, money and the willingness to have your complete address, name phone numbers and work address put on the State Police CHP holders list which is now public record.

Criminals and the mentally unstable don't go through this process. I can say that with confidence due to the fact that no concealed handgun permit holder has ever been arrested in Louisiana for a violent crime since the permits have been allowed.

Think about it like this. 3 percent of all americans have a concealed carry permit. That means that in a crowded movie theater there are statistically 3 people in the room with a firearm. For every thirty people you come across in the street one of them has a handgun concealed legally on them.