Iowa State’s Department of Public Safety is put at a disadvantage every time they step onto campus to defend the students of this university. DPS officers do not lack experience, law enforcement skill or technology; they simply lack firearms.

The decision to not allow campus police at state universities to pack heat was made a few years back by the board of regents, but it is time for that decision to be reversed.

DPS officers are not mall rent-a-cops who make sure 14-year-olds don’t swipe video games from Radio Shack. They are a fully-trained police force.

DPS officers have the authority to arrest and investigate like other peace officers, even more considering their state-wide jurisdiction.

Not putting guns in the hands of these officers is a terrible mistake. Currently, if DPS thinks it will be encountering a situation requiring firearms, it turns to Ames PD for back-up.

That’s nice for the foreseeable incidents, but what if a chased-down speeder cranked up on meth tries to skin a smokewagon on a DPS officer?

The cop would be left helpless and woefully under-armed.

Some might think having officers on campus with guns would look too threatening. It would be nice to be able to give credence to that notion, but the reality of the world these officers are protecting makes it impossible to worry about the public relations side of the issue.

There have been two methamphetamine labs discovered on campus within the last 10 months. DPS has played a large role in these busts because of its involvement with the Central Iowa Drug Task Force.

To expect officers to execute search warrants on drug dealers without carrying a weapon is akin to expecting them to pull over speeders without a car.

If we expect DPS to be a true police force, we must give them the tools to do so.

A gun is a necessary tool; there is no denying that it is. Hopefully, it won’t take a shooting to prove the point for the regents to put guns in the hands of the state’s campus police forces.