LETTER: Permitting guns is a bad idea

To the editor:

People don’t kill people, people with guns do. In a recent article to the Statesmen, a student argued that concealed weapons don’t increase the risk of violence on campus. He is adhering to the famous quote “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people,” (James C. Guy) which in itself is a very scary thought. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, between 1990 and 1995, homicide with a handgun was 75% of the total homicide; and between 2000 and today, 7 in 10 homicides are caused by guns. Not to mention that people in our age group (18-24) are the most likely to commit homicide with a gun. A study showed that probably less than 15 percent of gunshot woundings known to police result in death (Cook 1985). This means that not only does death happen with guns, but even greater amounts of injuries are inflicted.

A recent case-control study of homicide victimization by Arthur Kellermann and his colleagues (1993) concluded that gun possession increased the risk of homicide victimization by a factor of 2.8. Possession of guns may also create a “triggering” effect on the likelihood that the weapon possessor attacks an adversary. Experimental psychologists Berkowitz and LePage (1967) proposed the “weapons effect” hypothesis, which stated that the sight of a weapon could trigger aggression from angered persons. This does not go to say that everyone who owns a gun is angry, but when put into a position of anger, danger or even a heightened sense of awareness, people are more likely to use a firearm.

To address the author’s point that gun control will not stop “a psycho from killing innocent people,” recent studies show that it will probably do just that. Over 20 such studies have consistently concluded that criminals usually use a firearm to “frighten, humiliate, or dominate their victims” (Kleck, Hogan) rather than kill them, but people carrying concealed firearms are sporadic and careless, and usually end up to be the shooters. Oh, by the way, John Lennon of the Beatles was killed by Mark David Chapman, who had a legal concealed weapons permit.

Kasey Killion