Most of us know that firearms and weapons are prohibited on Lakeland’s campus unless they are locked in a vehicle. This is true across Wisconsin: there is state legislation against student possession of any type of gun or weapon on college campuses.

I’ve heard countless arguments against this prohibition from fellow students, reporters, and angry bloggers. They say it infringes on their constitutional right to bear arms, or they say it isn’t safe.

I agree with them. On a campus where only rule breakers carry guns, a violent situation could very quickly get out of control. Factor in that many small, private institutions are situated far from the nearest police station (and the nearest firearm) and the potential damage increases dramatically. In Lakeland’s case, the nearest police station is about six miles away in Elkhart Lake.

Large UW campuses situated in large cities are also slave to this jurisdiction, but in their case I think the law is much more appropriate. In a large city, such as Milwaukee or Madison, the police are well equipped and prepared to handle situations. The police officers on duty around these large universities are trained to deal with this kind of stuff. Allowing students to carry firearms could turn relatively harmless drunken brawls into deadly mass shootings, as well as complicate things if police determined deadly force was necessary. In large schools, perhaps the jurisdiction is more valuable.

No matter what the committees of our private college think about this issue, they can’t change the current policy. No matter what the surroundings or security precautions of any individual school, there is no getting around this law. There is much more argument to be had on this point, but the state governments need to consider that every college is different. If there were an incident at a college in a larger city, police could arrive almost instantly and take control. Out in the cornfields, it’s a different story.

To read the opposition, click here!