TO THE EDITOR:
I was disappointed by the broad generalizations that were made by The Daily Tar Heel Editorial Board on March 23 regarding the effects that campus carry laws would have on campus. The statistical data we have on gun ownership and concealed carry laws are nuanced, and restricted to 250 words, I don’t have the space to delve into it in depth either.
Generally speaking, we do not know from the data how campus carry would directly affect sexual assault (due to the crime’s unique circumstances), but we do have reason to believe that violent crime overall would drop. Please do not take my word for it alone; several studies are readily available online.
Now certainly with different crime levels, each university would have a different level of need and comfort with concealed carry on their campuses. Therefore, I think that the correct and responsible course of action would not be to have a knee-jerk reaction for or against concealed carry by applying the same rules to all of the system’s universities. Rather, it seems more appropriate that this decision should be left to each individual campus.
Like tuition, financial aid and several other critical issues that the DTH and others have argued should be decided at the university level, policies regarding what weapons may be used for self-defense on campus should be tailored to the individual needs of each campus.
Peter McClelland
Senior
Political Science, History
