M.S. of Syosset, NY writes:

What do you think of the recent decision in Colorado allowing students to carry concealed weapons on campus?

The College Whisperer replies:

Try as we might to stay above the political fray -- or at least close enough to the middle to avoid being hit by the shrapnel -- that darned celebration of ignorance keeps dragging us back in. Now, we not only have to dodge vitriolic comments, acerbic Tweets and off the wall emails, but bullets, as well!

We presume you are talking about Colorado's Concealed Carry Act, which prohibits local governments from limiting gun rights with some exceptions, though universities are not among those exceptions. The state's supreme court overturned a campus gun ban in March that once blocked students and employees from carrying licensed concealed weapons, issuing a blanket gun policy across the state.

So let's see. If student loan debt doesn't put you six feet under...

You know, there are some things in life that defy logic, or even reason. Then there are others, such as permitting students to carry concealed weapons on campus and into a classroom (hope you don't get too unhinged over that "F" in Organic Chem).

To me, and one would surmise, to all civilized, level-headed, reasonably sane folks, this is a no brainer. Keep guns out of the hands of college students and off of college campuses.

Listen. We are up in arms (pun intended) when our high school kids come to class with cell phones, i-Pods or wear clothing that is somehow associated with gang colors. Such violations of the code of conduct could open the door to suspension. But arm our college kids, and permit them to carry concealed weapons on the quad and into the classroom? Sure. Why not? After all, the Second Amendment gives them the right.

Proponents of guns on campus, such as Students for Concealed Carry, opine, with convoluted pretext that would spin Todd Akin's shrunken head, that the right to lock and load is a matter of self defense. After all, faced with a crazed gunman at the classroom door or brandishing a semi-automatic outside the dining hall, what better defense than that wild west mentality of arming a cadre of college students to the hilt and hoping that, amidst the frenzy of flying bullets and bloody carnage, the last kid standing isn't the gunman. Oh, the humanity.

Would that every student at Virginia Tech had been carrying a concealed weapon that fateful day, or every theater-goer in Aurora had a pistol hidden in the popcorn. How many dead when the friendly fire of a frenetic free-for-all is over? How many wounded?

Sorry, but I for one do not feel safer (quite the contrary, in fact), knowing that the fella sitting next to me may be packing a six-shooter -- unless, of course, he happens to be a cop.

Oh, those darn liberals, like The Campaign to Keep Guns Off Campus. Folks who believe, as I do, that the college campus is a place of refuge, of peaceful coexistence, of tolerance, of personal growth and, dare we say, of learning to think and reason, beyond the platitudes, the innuendo and the half-crazed machinations of the NRA and its ilk.

Okay. Okay. The Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms is sacrosanct (you may also maintain a well regulated militia in your illegal basement apartment, if you so desire). We'll give you that much.

But do we need to arm ourselves and our children with semi-automatic assault weapons, capable of taking down a Chinook helicopter, or turn a four-year stint on a college campus into a potentially deadly reality show that rivals The Hunger Games?

Perhaps we need to arm ourselves with just a bit of knowledge and a tad of thought. Then, too, a slogan wouldn't hurt. How about, Carry Books, Not Guns!

And for you staunch supporters of arming the masses to the teeth, ala the Mutually Assured Deterrence (or was that Mutually Assured Destruction) theorists of the nuke era, let us at least forestall an Armageddon on campus with a compromise.

We arm every college student -- the good guys as well as the nut jobs (and each member of Congress, while we're on a roll) with a pea shooter and an abundant arsenal of peas. Then, let them have at it. After all, it's all fun and games until someone takes out an eye...

Look, folks. Our job, as parents, as college counselors, as advocates for our children, is not just to get them into college, but to keep them healthy, safe and alive while they are there, and for many, many years thereafter.

The views and opinions expressed in this blog are solely those of The College Whisperer.

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