Ten state legislatures are considering
legislation to permit concealed firearms on college campuses. Supporters
argue that firearms, especially in the hands of women, give potential
victims of sexual assault the power necessary to prevent or stop a
sexual assault. “If these young, hot little girls on campus have a
firearm, I wonder how many men will want to assault them,” Michele
Fiore, a Republican assemblywoman in Nevada, told the New York Times.
While the Editorial Board is
wholeheartedly committed to preventing sexual assault on college
campuses, we believe that this proposed legislation will do more harm
than good. Concealed carry on college campuses not only misses many of
the main points of sexual assault advocacy, it also places campus
communities in grave danger.
Guns, as tools, do not have the ability
to address the root problem of sexual assault: perpetrators. Arming
potential sexual assault survivors puts the onus of their protection on
the potential survivors, instead of on potential perpetrators to avoid
committing sexual assaults and on bystanders to intervene. Both
universities and policymakers alike should foster a campus culture where
potential sexual assaults are recognized and stopped before they
happen, not one in which students must rely on guns to ensure their own
safety.
Even if universities ultimately allow
concealed carry, in reality, a potential sexual assault victim would
find it impractical to carry around firearms for self-defense,
especially considering who sexual assault perpetrators are. According to
the National Institute of Justice, 90 percent of survivors in reported
college sexual assaults knew their assailants. This indicates that many
sexual assaults on college campuses occur in seemingly safe and ordinary
situations, in which a gun would not be easily accessible. READ MORE
No comments:
Post a Comment