To the Editor:
The recent gunpoint robbery of another Vanderbilt student highlights the failed logic of “gun-free” zones. The current campus-wide firearms ban doesn’t keep students safe. Instead, it needlessly puts us at greater risk of violent crime.
Even though the most recent crime occurred just beyond the boundaries of the “Vanderbubble,” campus policies still have an impact. Students are not particularly difficult to pick out from the rest of Nashville’s citizens. Since students are not allowed to carry weapons on campus, it is not unreasonable to assume students within walking distance of campus are also unarmed.
It would be naive to think this doesn’t cross the mind of a potential criminal, especially in a county where an estimated one in 40 residents has a concealed weapons permit. Because of a senseless gun control policy rooted in fear and paranoid speculation rather than facts and statistics, criminals have been granted a defenseless target with cash, credit cards, and if they’re lucky, a couple grand in technology.
Vanderbilt’s response to this crime is to remind us to “travel with confidence and purpose,” and “stay alert and plan for ‘What if ... ?’” Well, what if I am stopped by an armed gunman at around 10:30 p.m. on my way back from a late dinner? 911 is out of the question; the two to four minute response time would put them at the scene just in time to start collecting evidence. Since Vanderbilt has denied me any reasonable means of self-defense, my only option would be to surrender my belongings and hope the criminal was in a good mood.
Fortunately for us, the long overdue expiration of these senseless “common-sense” regulations could be in sight. Tennessee is one of seven states considering legislation that could legalize concealed carry on campus and ban administrators at public colleges from circumventing that decision. Such legislation would finally bring an end to the government mistake that allows only criminals to carry weapons within our borders.
Erik Soderstrom
First-year student
College of Arts and Science
