Letter to the editor

Title

Letter to the editor

Description

Aug. 28, 2007

The article "Students fight for guns on campus" by Claire St. Amant was amazing. I feel she showed the views of both sides without offending either.

With that said, I noticed the editorial "Gun groups gone wrong."

This editorial has obviously come from a person who has not adequately researched into concealed handguns and the lawful use of them.

Each year over 170,000 crimes are deterred by law abiding, licensed people who use their weapons without firing a single shot.

Sometimes it's the mere thought of a weapon being present that can deter the crime.

Students for Concealed Carry on Campus is not saying that those with concealed handgun licenses should be vigilantes.

During our courses, we are taught how to respond not only if we are forced as a last resort to pull the trigger, but also how to react with police officers under any under circumstances.

I don't want to give the wrong impression when I say this, but even if Baylor police could afford to employ more officers, they can't always protect us.

There was an instance within a year prior of Virginia Tech at Appalachian Law School.

A shooter entered into the school and began shooting. Two students who were following the state laws of "no guns on campus" ran to their vehicles and broke the law to save the lives of their fellow students. They apprehended the shooter and waited for police to arrive to arrest the shooter.

There was a similar situation in Pennsylvania where a vice principal of a junior high saved his students' lives.

A madman entered the school with a shotgun and began shooting; the vice principal ran to his truck to retrieve his pistol. He returned to stop the shooter from injuring any more of his students.

Yes, our current system can be improved. In the instance of the Virginia Tech shooter, he was let through a loophole that Virginia had set up.

I agree that certain people should not be allowed to own or even touch a firearm. Texas has laws in place that make it a felony.

SCCC bases its views off of statistics and reports that we have collected worldwide.

Our information proves that allowing law-abiding citizens to carry weapons into areas significantly reduces crime.

In the U.S. it deters approximately 15 percent of all crimes and 30 percent of violent crimes.

We are asking that our respective states allow the most law-abiding citizens, with a crime rate of less than 0.001 percent, to be allowed to continue defending ourselves.

SCCC understands two things among many: one is that "gun -free zones" in America are false comforts that have given us some of our nation's worst tragedies and two, that allowing law abiding citizens to carry concealed weapons reduces crimes and equals the playing field.

We are not countering against or trying to be a replacement for law enforcement.

Those with concealed handgun licenses are a crime deterrent, practicing one of their rights guaranteed in the Bill of Rights.

Andrew Sugg

Aviation Sciences, 2008

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Original Source: The Lariat
<a href="http://www.baylor.edu/Lariat/news.php?action=story&story=46485">http://www.baylor.edu/Lariat/news.php?action=story&story=46485</a>

Creator

Andrew Sugg

Date

2008-02-05

Contributor

Kacey Beddoes

Rights

Julie Freeman (Julie_Freeman@baylor.edu)

Language

eng

Citation

Andrew Sugg, “Letter to the editor,” The April 16 Archive, accessed October 9, 2024, https://www.april16archive.org/items/show/1649.