On Friday, a column was written regarding concealed carry on campus. I found several issues with this column and would like to address these issues.

The columnist first claimed Iowa State

is too large for the entirety of the student

body to be allowed to carry concealed weapons. What the columnist failed to mention is that a person is only allowed to carry a concealed weapon when they turn 21. In rough statistics, that is only about half of the student population. Furthermore, only about 1 percent of the population is licensed to carry a concealed weapon.

The fact of having to be 21 years old also proves her other point of alcohol affecting logic to be invalid. Though underage alcohol consumption is rampant on college campuses, those who are underage to drink are also underage to carry legally. Additionally, campus carry means campus carry. If a person has a license to carry a concealed weapon, they can carry that concealed weapon anywhere, including bars. However, all states that allow for concealed carry also prohibit carry while under the influence of drugs and alcohol.

She also says that guns are at risk of landing in the wrong hands due to campus theft, but most students over the age of 21 live off campus. Additionally, the university could enforce that students with a license to carry on campus must have their weapon in a safe when not on their person.

The columnist also addresses that students would have a hard time concentrating if their peers or professors were carrying concealed weapons, but she fails to realize the weapon is concealed, meaning it’s not meant to be seen or known that a person is carrying. And have you ever gone into any public place and been scared or nervous that the people around you might have a gun? If you don’t think about it in public, why would your college campus be any different?

In the end, concealed carry on campus is just as safe as public concealed carry and most of the arguments in this particular column were not addressed with enough research.