While the Second Amendment guarantees citizens the right to bear arms, it does not guarantee them the right to do so in secret. This contentious issue is present on many campuses across the nation and has found its way to SCAD, but will it gain a foothold here? Our campus isn’t a traditional campus, in fact, it doesn’t exist at all. We have nearly 80 buildings throughout the Savannah area. Once a student steps out of a building they’re back in Savannah, where the right to carry a concealed weapon does exist.
A previous article elicited many responses from SCAD students over the right to carry concealed weapons. A recent poll elicited even more responses. Of the 48 respondents, 37 voted against carrying guns, nine voted for it, and two didn’t know. One response to the article stated that “I’d rather die in a shootout than a massacre.” Well, we’d rather not die at all, so check your gun at the door.
SCAD does not have a history of violent crime in its buildings, why then some students feel the need to carry a weapon into the classroom to feel safe eludes us. An easy response to that statement might be that other schools that have experienced crime didn’t have a history of violent crime either. And that is true, however, since then they haven’t been carrying guns, and violence hasn’t returned. It’s almost as if the ratio of students legally carrying guns to students illegally carrying guns doesn’t mean anything at all. And it doesn’t.
If a person chooses to go into a building to intentionally kill as many people as possible, chances are, they are completely unconcerned about whether or not they’ll be killed themselves. Concealed guns wouldn’t be a deterrent at that point.
Students who suspect that another student might be plotting to harm others or themselves have other avenues to reconcile the situation that do not involve arming themselves. You can call SCAD Security at 525-4500, the Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department at 651-6675, and SCAD counseling 525-6971.