In a recent article from The Rundown on pbs.org, lawmakers in 10 different states are making moves to start legislation to allow guns on college campuses in hopes to prevent rape. Amanda Collins, a student at the University of Nevada-Reno, shared her story of being raped in the parking garage on campus. In her courageous story, Collins talks about if there wouldn’t have been law restricting her from carrying her firearm on campus, she felt she could have defended herself against her attacker.

In the state of Iowa, the Board of Regents decided in 2005 to allow each individual university to create its own firearm and other weapons policy. At Iowa State University, all firearms and weapons, categorized under the Firearms and Other Weapons Policy, are restricted on campus. There are a few exceptions, including ISU and Ames Police, military research or a university organization, with permission, among others.

Only in Idaho, Utah and Colorado are firearms allowed to be carried on campus. Iowa falls under a category with 19 other states that let the governing university bodies decide the firearms policies. And while the Second Amendment is as important as any other, pushing guns onto campus to fight rape with guns is not the correct approach.

In a culture where we are taught to fight violence with more violence, the last thing college students need on campus are a bunch of firearms. While not all rapes occur as the male as the assaulter and the female as the victim, men are statistically more likely to be accused and charged with rape. The argument of women carrying firearms to fight off their aggressors is invalid because the legislation being proposed would allow all persons to carry firearms on campus. The chances of a rapist carrying a gun goes up substantially if the legislation goes through.

What needs to be done is earlier and more intensive education for men on how not to be a rapist. We need to stop breeding the violence and blame that rapes are caused by mentally ill or drunk people. We need to stop resorting to guns, weapons and violence as a precaution to an assault. We need to be investing our time, money and energy into the education of what constitutes as a sexual or aggravated assault. We need to invest into security measures like security cameras and trained police enforcement. Falling back on firearms and weapons to protect us only give those aggressors a leg up on their crimes. It’s time we stop feeding into the nonsensical idea that “the sexual assaults that are occurring would go down once these predators get a bullet in their head,” as Nevada Assemblywoman Michele Fiore stated in The Rundown’s article. It time we do something about the prevention ahead of time, rather than have a reaction with a gun.