Last Tuesday, tragedy hit Deer Creek Middle School when 32-year-old Bruco Strong Eagle Eastwood opened fire on students. Luckily, he was stopped after shooting only two students, who are recovering smoothly. A teacher was able to tackle the gunman and a contractor grabbed the rifle before he was able to reload.
School shootings seem to be a growing trend. And a rather disturbing one at that. Two schools within the same area have suffered school shootings within a decade. It is a staggering trend that has to stop.
A mere day after the shooting, CSU officials completely banned all weapons on the Fort Collins and Pueblo campuses, which includes guns carried by concealed-carry permit holders. It is not set to take effect until Aug. 1, but many students have already gone up in arms about it. The Fort Collins ban would bar all weapons from campus with narrow exemptions for academic, military and law-enforcement purposes, or if they’re in imminent danger. The Pueblo ban will permit students to carry tasers, pepper spray, and mace for protection.
Currently, Mesa State’s policy follows the state policy. Those with a carry permit are allowed to have weapons on campus. However, all weapons, regardless of whether the carrier has a permit or not, are banned from housing, including pepper spray, Tasers, and Mace. The campus police have a gun safe in the substation where they house all guns for such students as those with a permit for hunting reasons but live on campus and have no where to store them. This is a good policy, with a few minor exceptions.
It is important for those at least who have permits to be allowed to carry guns on campus. In the apparently not-so-rare occasion that a gunman came to Mesa State, students want to know that they are safe. If they know multiple people have guns all across campus, rather than just the police who are in one area, they may feel safer.
But the school should go one step further and allow anyone to carry a gun on campus. Sure, it may sound a little daunting, but just knowing that a mass group of people own guns on campus, could greatly reduce our chances of having a shooting on our home turf. And if it did happen, it could also greatly increase our chances of stopping the gunman. If the school feels that it is important to do a background check, an application process, whatever it may be, then fine, so be it. But being allowed to possess a weapon, whether a gun or knife, is an important tool to the survival of students.
Along those lines, the fact that pepper spray is not permitted in the dorms is ridiculous. In the case of break-ins or potentially even rape, pepper spray is necessary for self-defense if nothing else is available. The allowance of carrying pepper spray is one that could safeguard Mesa State’s students.
Being allowed to carry guns on campus and pepper spray in the dorms would make our campus so much safer that it is something the administration should take into consideration. On the occasion that a gunman visits Mesa State, wouldn’t they like to know that their Mavericks are going to be okay?

afriar@mesastate.edu