NMU students and faculty may have received an email recently with a survey pertaining to carrying a concealed weapon on campus with a CCW permit from the state of Michigan. Although it is currently against Michigan law to carry a concealed weapon on college campuses, the survey being administered to NMU students and faculty show the debate about concealed weapons on college campuses has not dwindled.

The issue of concealed weapons with permits on campus is not as simple as any one person would tell you it is. Ultimately though, having concealed weapons on campus doesn’t solve anything.

Students and faculty on campus and across the state have diverse views on this subject. Some think weapons and guns in particular have no place in an academic atmosphere. They think concealed weapons will not make students any safer from a threat at school. Some even think students with concealed weapons on campus would make the university more dangerous.

On the other side of the issue, people believe that being able to carry a concealed weapon on campus will make them safer and protect them from a possible school shooter. Some even believe that carrying a concealed weapon on campus is a constitutional right. Many of these views, on both sides of the argument, are either wrong or misguided.

The core of this issue comes down to this: concealed weapons won’t stop a school shooting; society must create the conditions that make school shootings disappear.

It’s true that a student carrying a legal concealed weapon could theoretically stop a school shooting because he or she is armed with a weapon. But the odds of a student stopping a shooting by him or herself is very slim and could actually hinder the effort of law enforcement to stop the shooter because law enforcement must distinguish between the shooter and regular students with concealed weapons.

Another problem with concealed weapons on campus is that students will not know which students have permits for their weapons and which ones don’t. This could lead to unnecessary worry for students.

Valuing a safe learning environment is important. But students or faculty legally carrying concealed weapons will not make the learning environment on campus any less safe. In order to get a concealed weapons permit from Michigan, you must go through a background check, attend a class and take a written test.

People carrying concealed weapons on campus legally will not make the university community any less safe. But concealed weapons won’t solve anything either.