Professor Wasserman,
I think you may have misunderstood my last communication. I am not offended by the arguments of ALL women that oppose this. I was taken back by the fact that you would label something like this as irrational. That was offensive to me. Its the equivalent of labeling someone crazy because you do not understand them. However, I'd like for you to read a few things.
I'm not sure which surveys you have read, or where you found them, but your findings happen to be inaccurate.
Here are some sourced statistics that you can do background research on to verify, if you question their validity.
Fact: 94% of law enforcement officials believe that citizens should be able to purchase firearms for self-defense and sporting purposes. (17th Annual National Survey of Police Chiefs & Sheriffs, National Association of Chiefs of Police, 2005)
Fact: The courts have consistently ruled that the police do not have an obligation to protect individuals. In Warren v. District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department, 444 A.2d 1 (D.C. App. 1981), the court stated: `... courts have without exception concluded that when a municipality or other governmental entity undertakes to furnish police services, it assumes a duty only to the public at large and not to individual members of the community.' Well, except for politicians whom receive taxpayer- financed bodyguards.
Fact: 95% of the time police arrive too late to prevent a crime or arrest the suspect. ("This is 911 ... please hold", Witkin, Gordon, Guttman, Monika and Lenzy, Tracy. U.S. News & World Report, June 17, 199
Fact: People with concealed carry permits are:
5.7 times less likely to be arrested for violent offenses than the general public
13.5 times less likely to be arrested for non-violent offenses than the general public
("An Analysis of the Arrest Rate of Texas Concealed Carry Handgun License Holders as Compared to the Arrest Rate of the Entire Texas Population", William E. Sturdevant, PE, September 11, 1999)
Fact: In Florida, a state that has allowed concealed carry since late 1987, you are twice as likely to be attacked by an alligator as by a person with a concealed carry permit.(Concealed Weapons/Firearms License Statistical Report, Florida Department of State, 1998 – Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission, December 1999)
Fact: 66% of police chiefs believe that citizens carrying concealed firearms reduce rates of violent crime.(National Association of Chiefs of Police, 17th Annual National Survey of Police Chiefs & Sheriffs, 2005)
Fact: About 11% of police shootings kill an innocent person - about 2% of shootings by citizens kill an innocent person. The odds of a defensive gun user killing an innocent person are less than 1 in 26,000.And that is with citizens using guns to prevent crimes almost 2,500,000 times every year. ( Shall Issue: The New Wave of Concealed Handgun Permit Laws, C. Cramer, and D. Kopel, Independence Institute Issue Paper. October 17, 1994)
also, I think you fail to realize that this is not simply arming students. It involves professors as well. This is not a one-sided clause to the law. It applies to everyone.
Can you guarantee that someone with a gun (without a cpl) won't shoot up the cafeteria?
Can you guarantee that someone with a gun (without a cpl) won't go on a shooting spree on the campus?
Can you guarantee that someone with a a gun (without a cpl) won't go crazy and shoot in your class?
And if this happens who will stop them? The only person who could stop them is someone else in the same location who has a gun. The police will come to write the report afterwards.
Guns are used about 2.5 million times in America for self defense.
http://www.pulpless.com/gunclock/stats.html
If you are interested in educating yourself on hand guns and safety, I would gladly invite you to the range for professional instruction. Most people who are opposed to guns typically walk away from an experience like that having learned a lot about themselves and the topic of fire arms as well. You may undoubtedly learn that it is not for you, or you may learn the opposite. However, you will have done so on the grounds of first hand experience rather than believing one side or the other on arguments that have no relation until you try it first hand.
Also, here is even more statistics and common myths, a few that you have mentioned yourself, from a credible source as well.
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=4706
also, here is one shocking article I have found that hits alarmingly close to home.
http://www.media.wayne.edu/1998/12/1...sity-community
Am I saying that a student with a CPL could have changed the course of this event? No. But if the teacher or a student were armed in this event, I guarantee it would have had the possibility of being different.
further research on this article finds more details at:
http://community.seattletimes.nwsour...1&slug=2788425
It mentions that after the professor was shot and wounded, the shooter stopped to reload and shoot again. It was the second batch of shots that killed him. Is it not arguable that in this time someone who was armed could have done something? An empty gun is a useless gun and I guarantee that while he was trying to reload he was put at ease by the GUARANTEE that no one in the entire building with him was armed.
This and more is something you would understand the nature of if you educate yourself first hand with fire arms. You cannot "imagine" trying to reload a fire arm, it has to be done realistically in a controlled environment for you to truly understand the process involved and face the reality that IF someone HAD been armed during this, I would strongly argue that this exact moment would have been the opportunity to engage the threat and notably neutralize it, since he was at that point no longer functionally-armed, nor would he have been in the right state of mind or attention to monitor an entire class full of individuals and attempt to continue to carry out his sadistic plot at the same time.
I am not trying to disregard or insult your opinion on the subject in any way. I respect that you have the right to disagree with me just as I do with you, however, I would hope that before your form your opinion on the subject, you would at least try to look at research from both points of view, and develop a logical unbiased opinion. I have learned to do the same while studying at WSU.
Regardless,
Thank you for your time and I hope you enjoy your weekend.
-Alex Shikhman