University Police Chiefs in Arizona oppose letting concealed carry permits on campus
This story can be found here:
Can they point to any examples where these concerns have actually occurred? No. Just hypothetical worst case examples. But it would be helpful if they could point to even a few examples to justify their fears. Then at least the discussion could be one of benefits versus costs.
Police chiefs from Arizona State University, the University of Arizona and Northern Arizona University testified that allowing gun-permit holders to bring firearms onto school grounds would create confusion when officers respond to a shooting incident. It could lead to the loss of additional innocent lives, they said.
"Our job is difficult enough. I don't think there is a solution to the violence and the shootings we are experiencing on campuses," said ASU Police Chief John Pickens, who previously served as director of public safety at Northern Illinois University, where a gunman last week killed five people and wounded more than a dozen others before taking his own life.
Can they point to any examples where these concerns have actually occurred? No. Just hypothetical worst case examples. But it would be helpful if they could point to even a few examples to justify their fears. Then at least the discussion could be one of benefits versus costs.
Labels: ConcealedCarry, GunFreeZone
posted by John Lott at 2:52 PM
3 Comments:
John -- You'd think that when they say that there is no solution they'd be a little more open to possible solutions.
If I were paying the quoted chief, or dependent upon him for my safety, I'd replace him.
Heck, no matter what he does for a living, if I employed him, I'd replace him.
I would find this premise more debatable if the first law enforcement on scene immediately addressed active threats. Instead, the general policy seems to be wait for an up-armored response team with a building blueprint and tactical entry plan. When enabled students can end a threat before SWAT clears their building, what confusion remains to be had? That is not to say I would find the Chiefs' argument persuasive. But there might at least be an argument to begin with.
Most self-defense shooting incidents are measured in seconds. It is extremely unlikely that police would encounter an ongoing gun battle and be faced with the dilemma of telling "good" shooter from "bad." If the armed civilian is victorious, then by the time officers arrive the gunman will be down and there will be witnesses present who can identify the good guy.
Instead of admitting that officers cannot be everywhere at once, and are unlikely to be able to stop an armed psychopath in the midst of a spree before he either kills himself or takes many innocent lives, they throw their hands up and say there is no solution to the problem. Perhaps these chiefs see allowing CHL holders to carry on campus as an admission of failure.
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