Now, I won’t personally claim to carry, know of anyone, or agree completely with the notion of more guns, but there is a very valid argument in regard to allowing school faculty to carry concealed weapons.

The most obvious reason is that allowing faculty to carry guns would even out the implication; both sides would be armed and the campus would be enabled and ready to defend itself. I would also add that an assailant would think twice before attacking, however, I remind you that not all school shootings have been initiated by common criminals. It has, for the most part, sadly begun with an individual who can already be found on the campus – a student.

And these students are enraged, they spend time on end fantasizing and plotting their day of “retribution,” as the University of California in Santa Barbara’s assailant, Elliot Rodgers’ videos on YouTube have revealed. Staff and instructors need to have leverage. There isn’t going to be a decline of mentally unbalanced student’s, especially now that more people are encouraged to go to college than ever before. Not everyone was cut out for this type of stress.

For someone with the magnitude of obsession past school shooters have revealed, obtaining a weapon is a small task. A campus doesn’t provide students with drugs and alcohol; they bring them from the outside and can just as easily obtain weapons. And yes, the argument that guns have made it easier for bad things to happen is valid, but when placed in the right hands they have also made it easier to prevent bad things.

In 2002, the Appalachian School of Law faced a tragedy when a student opened gunfire on campus and killed three school administrators. Peter Odigizuwa, 42, had received failing grades and was suspended from school; this isn’t uncommon. Although three students with law-enforcement backgrounds ultimately restrained the school shooter, and that experience is what provided them with the ability to deal with the situation, it took the manpower of multiple individuals. One of the hero students said that he ran to his car where he kept his personal gun and used it to help subdue Odigizuwa.

Amongst Odigizuwa’s victims was his primary target, the well-educated and respected Dean. In fact, reports I have read stated that was where he began his carnage. That administrator could have prevented the deranged student from causing further damage had he carried a concealed weapon. Actual cops weren’t on the scene until much later.

If faculty carried concealed weapons, they would also carry the threat present. Designating and training staff to react properly can alter an implication. Not every student body has the benefit of an ex-cop who keeps a weapon handy.