Academic

Law Students With Guns (In Class)

By Dan Filler

Apparently there is a national movement supporting the rights of students to pack heat on college campuses.  (It's called SCCC - Students for Concealed Carry on Campus.)  Villanova law students are at the vanguard of this trend, according to news accounts.  I fancy myself a Second Amendment moderate - I believe in a well-regulated right to bear arms - but I'm not at all excited about having armed students in class.  For one thing, it changes the dynamic of a classroom when any odd turn during Property immediately creates the risk of armed conflict. And the possibility that students might be packing also puts a crimp in certain interesting classroom techniques - such as the famous surprise interloper who makes a dramatic entry (and departure) at the beginning of a criminal procedure class on eyewitness identification.  (I've avoided these techniques ever since I discovered several years ago that, notwithstanding campus rules, some students already do carry in class.)

Frankly, I'm not convinced that a well armed student body will make us safe from incidents like Virginia Tech or Northern Illinois.  It's not like those shooters are rational actors open to deterrence.  And I'm doubtful that having a flock of fellow students returning fire would be a net benefit.  It's one thing to arm commercial pilots.  Many of those folks have serious military training and pilots are uniquely exposed to risk.  If we take seriously the right of students to bear arms in school, I know I'll worry that my classes are filled with weapons - but not necessarily people with the skills and judgment to use them appropriately.

Full post as published by The Faculty Lounge on March 06, 2008 (boomark / email).