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Nina’s Panic Attack

By Theresa Camoriano

My daughter Nina is normally a very level-headed, sensible person, but last week she had a panic attack.  It was ten minutes before the end of her large lecture class at Virginia Tech when a young man entered the room wearing baggy clothes and carrying a backpack.  She did not recognize him, and it seemed peculiar that he would be coming into the class so late.  Suddenly she feared that he was going to pull a gun out of his backpack and begin shooting the members of her class.  Nina panicked, because she knew there was nothing she would be able to do to protect herself, her classmates, or her professor.  Fortunately, the young man sat down and took a book out of his backpack. 

After everything that has happened at Virginia Tech – all the members of the community who were murdered, all the funerals and memorials, and all the money that was spent on security – the fact is that the students are no safer now than they were last April when the mass murders occurred.  The one step that could be taken, but that the administration refuses to take, is to allow staff and students who have concealed carry permits to use them.  By making the university campus a “gun-free zone”, the administration has really made it a self-defense-free zone, making it an attractive place for murderers and leaving the students and staff as sitting ducks for the next attacker. 

It still brings tears to Nina’s eyes when she thinks about two of the people she knew who were murdered last year.  They were so talented, so kind-hearted, and had so many plans for making the world a better place.  Nina believes that human life is precious and should be defended.  She does not want any more innocent lives to be lost to another murderer, so she has joined a group called “Students for Concealed Carry on Campus”, which advocates for people with concealed carry permits to be able to carry a concealed handgun for self-defense.  Her group recently was featured on ABC’s Nightline.  (Click here to see the video.)

In order to obtain a concealed carry permit, a person must be at least 21 years old, pass a background check, and pass a test to show that he knows how to handle a handgun safely.  There currently are several universities that permit concealed carry, but most do not.  There have been no problems at the universities where concealed handguns are permitted.  It should be noted that, several years ago, a murderer was stopped at another Virginia campus (Appalachian Law School in Grundy, Virginia) by two students who ran to their cars to get their guns.    

A person with a concealed handgun functions essentially as an undercover policeman – ready to defend himself and others, but is very inconspicuous, so a would-be criminal does not know who he or she is.  These undercover protectors are among us on the street every day, making us safer without our even being aware of it, but they are not allowed to perform that same function on most college campuses.

Both logic and the evidence show that allowing people with concealed carry permits to carry concealed handguns makes a place much safer, so why is it so strongly opposed by so many people? 

1.       Many people are not familiar with guns and are afraid of them.  They would not trust themselves with a gun, so they don’t want to trust others, either.  What they do not realize is that they could make themselves much safer just by ensuring that others who have made the effort to learn to handle a gun safely and who have obtained a concealed carry permit have the right to carry concealed handguns both for their own defense and for the defense of others.

2.       Many people say that college-age students are likely to get drunk on weekends and shoot each other.  However, the evidence is to the contrary.  Most of the parties and drinking take place off-campus, where students already have the right to carry concealed weapons, and they are not shooting each other.  It also should be remembered that, despite the misrepresentation by a Virginia Tech Official, eighteen-year-old students would not have the right to carry concealed weapons, because a person must be at least 21 to obtain a concealed carry permit.

3.       An argument has been made that, if a situation arose in which a person with a concealed carry permit had to use the weapon for self-defense, and if the police arrived on the scene, they would not know who was the criminal and who was the defender and might accidentally shoot the defender.  It is also similarly argued that innocent people might be caught in the cross-fire if a person with a concealed-carry permit were to use his weapon for self-defense.  Of course, these same arguments could be made with respect to plain-clothes policemen, but they are not, because they are not sensible arguments.  When there is a murderer shooting at people, picking them off as quickly as possible, the most sensible way to protect human life is to shoot the murderer.  Worrying about other low-percentage risks as compared with the very high percentage risk of being killed by the murderer is simply ridiculous.  It’s like worrying about the risks of second-hand cigarette smoke when you are standing on the railroad tracks and a train is barreling down on you.

It should be noted that the Israelis have trained their young people to handle guns, and citizens routinely carry weapons for self-defense.  This has been very effective at stopping the bad guys, and it would be just as effective in the U.S. 

The right to self-defense is the most basic of human rights.  Without it, none of our other rights really matter.  It is difficult to exercise your right to free speech or freedom of assembly when you are dead.  We cannot bring back the people who already have been murdered in our “gun-free zones”, but we can take one important step to help prevent or stop the next murderer – allow people with concealed carry permits to use them. 

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