In Louisiana there’s a state legislation up for vote that would allow college students and professors to carry handguns in light of the wave of school shootings. This sort of proposal has been tossed around in the past, but now more than ever it’s being acted on.

I’m all for the right to bare arms, but this concept can sound frightening in all actuality. Oklahoma’s House of Representatives has already passed its bill and is on its way to the Senate, with other states following suite.

Alabama currently allows people 21 and older to possess a permit, but firearms are banned on campuses. The bill to let guns on campus failed there and would have been full of restrictions for students.

The age restriction would have been maintained, students would have to pass a course, be part of ROTC, and have a valid permit. My favorite clause was the restriction on people who have gotten speeding tickets. Also, potential applicants can’t be convicted of a felony or misdemeanor.

Louisiana’s bill going up for vote is very similar in structure to the Alabama bill. Louisiana would prevent the colleges from making their own school prohibitions against the firearms if it was passed, leaving campuses that don’t agree in a tight spot.

Utah students have been carrying concealed guns for the past year. Many students there reference the Virginia Tech shooting as the turning point for feeling unsafe on campus.

Primarily this has been an issue for the larger campuses across the country, which makes for an unsettling reminder for students on a campus the size of UMass.

Other states examining the issue are Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, and South Carolina, with failed action in Mississippi, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, and Washington.

Massachusetts is as liberal as they come, and as a liberal state it is not likely guns will be allowed on campus here anytime soon. (After all, our lawmakers are all too busy making us pay astronomically for health insurance.)

The issue that one representative in Oklahoma addressed was the presence of alcohol on campuses. Campuses are usually the exception in states that allow concealed firearms to begin with, labeled as no-firearm zones.

Arguments on this issue are provided by Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, which incidentally does not have an UMass chapter, but does have 23,000 members across the country.

Their argument is: “College students can already legally purchase firearms, and every state that provides for legalized concealed carry has statutes prohibiting license holders from carrying while under the influence. Legalizing concealed carry on college campuses would neither put guns into the hands of more college students nor make it legal for a person to carry a firearm while under the influence.”

The more I think about the issue at hand, the more it makes me squirm to consider the very possibility that someone sitting next to me in a lecture, let alone myself, could have a gun on them legally. It is a responsibility as well as a right.

Though for some of the states getting involved in the debate over whether or not to let their students carry, it is just as much an issue of privilege. The right to carry would be the privilege of a few, namely veterans and ROTC students.

But the thought of legalizing guns on campus to begin with does seem to come across as an encouragement nonetheless. By targeting campuses with legislature it is as if it’s reinforcing the feelings of poor safety and security.

If concealed weapons were allowed in all states, then I would be willing to wager that a large number of college students would not carry anyway. The very implication that this legislation could be used as a means to counteract the school shootings, as if it is a feasible remedy, is insulting. It’s not going to solve the problem.

It has the potential to cause more problems on top of the existing one. A lot of concerns include how police would have to be all the more aware of suspicious student behavior. It may make the few students allowed to carry the guns feel better, but it doesn’t make the issue go away, or make everyone else feel safer.

I actually don’t think that this is necessarily a ridiculous concept, but rather one that requires a lot of careful handling. I am tired of the people who say that lax gun laws and accessibility are the problem.

They are not. It is a structural issue; it is an issue within our society. When it comes down to it, the problem isn’t the guns; it’s what makes the people turn to the violence in the first place, which is a whole other argument in itself.

Hannah Nelson is a Collegian columnist. She can be reached at [email protected].