TOLES (c)2007 The Washington Post. Reprinted with permission of UNIVERSAL PRESS SYNDICATE. All rights reserved

• Talking Points
• Questions and Answers

The Brady Center's new report: No Gun Left Behind: The Gun Lobby's Campaign to Push Guns Into Colleges and Schools blows the whistle on the gun lobby's strategy and explains how, far from saving lives, it would dramatically increase gun violence risks to college students and trample on academic freedom. Drugs and alcohol use, plus suicide and mental health issues, all peak for people 18-24. Let's not add guns into that volatile mix. Despite the massacre at Virginia Tech, college campuses and schools are safer than the communities that surround them, precisely because those institutions have barred or tightly controlled firearms. We need to support those institutions, not strip them of the ability to control firearms on campus. Arming teachers is also a bad idea. Do we really want teachers shooting at students? Even police officers hit their targets less than 20% of the time.

NRA letter to Maine legislators

Click here to read the full letter.

Who wants to arm students and teachers? The usual suspects.

• The National Rifle Association
• The Gun Owners of America
• Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms
• Virginia Civil Defense League

Some politicians, beholden to the gun lobby, also want to put guns into your kids' classrooms. It is up to you to make sure this doesn't happen.

• Texas Governor Rick Perry
• Presidential hopeful Fred Thompson
• Others

View the full size cartoon

©Tribune Media Services, Inc.All Rights Reserved. Reprinted with permission.

Obviously, arming students and teachers is a bad idea.

Here are a few reasons why it would be insane to introduce guns into colleges and schools. The college age years — 18-24 — are the peak years for engaging in gun crimes, abusing drugs and alcohol, attempting suicide, and having other mental health problems. A binge-drinking, drug-using student is dangerous enough; let's not give him or her a gun.

Reason #1: Drugs and Alcohol

• Nearly half of America's full-time college students abuse drugs or binge drink at least once a month. For college gun owners, the rate of binge-drinking is even higher — two-thirds.
• Plus, college gun owners are more likely than the average student to:
  • Engage in binge drinking,
  • Need an alcoholic drink first thing in the morning,
  • Use cocaine or crack,
  • Be arrested for a DUI,
  • Vandalize property, and
  • Get in trouble with police.

Reason #2. Suicide and Mental Health Issues

• About 1,100 college students commit suicide every year, but another 24,000 students attempt to do so.
• If a gun is used in a suicide attempt, more than 90% of the time it is fatal, compared to a 3% fatality rate for suicide attempts by drug overdose.
• How many more suicide fatalities will we see on college campuses if guns become widely available?

Reason #3. Gun Theft Risks

• Guns stolen from homes and cars fuel crime. College dorm rooms, by comparison, would be even easier targets for gun thieves.

Reason #4. Do We Really Want Guns in K-12 Classrooms?

• Even trained police officers, on average, hit their intended targets less than 20% of the time.
• Arming teachers would likely make them the first targets in an attack, and could encourage attackers to increase their firepower or wear body armor.
• More than 2,000 K-12 students are expelled each year for carrying guns to school. Do we really want armed teachers confronting them? What if a teacher shoots a student?

Academic debate and learning cannot flourish in a room full of guns.

• The U.S. Supreme Court has recognized the importance of respecting schools' rights to self-governance and independent decision-making.
• This principle of institutional autonomy has been enshrined in the constitutions of many states.

A growing number of organizations oppose pushing guns into colleges and schools.

• American Council on Education
• American Association of Community Colleges
• American Association of Universities
• American Association of State Colleges and Universities
• National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges
• American Council on Education
• Security on Campus, Inc.
• Alliance for Justice

Newspapers and commentators also oppose the gun lobby's plan.

• More guns would equal more deaths (Roanoke Times)
• Firearms on Campus a Bad Idea. Period. (Lynchburg News and Advance)
• Proposals to arm campus workers present challenges (Lahontan Valley News)
• Maybe they can wear white hats, too? (Indianapolis Star)
• Letters to the editor: Arming students counter to safety (Daily Press)
• Arming 'good guys' won't end violence (News Journal)
• Property rights over gun rights (Waco Tribune-Herald)
• Sorry, Gov. Perry, but guns on campus flunks (Houston Chronicle)
• Guns and campus insecurity (Roanoke Times)
• More guns won't solve problem (Daily Reveille)
• Shooting from the lip (Houston Chronicle)
• NO: Turning schools into Wild West saloons will make things worse (Charlotte Observer)
• Campus safety reviews boost protections (Billings Gazette)

States with guns-in-schools bills.
Click here for a detailed list of current bills.

States where gun lobby bills are pending

House to debate campus guns Monday (Shreveport Times) Allowing guns on campuses insane (Shreveport Times) Police: Boyar admitted to having guns in dorm (UNM Daily Lobo) N.M. student arrested on charges of having guns on campus (Associated Press) Don't allow weapons on campus (Daily Advertiser) Read more news and editorials on Guns In Colleges and Schools

No Gun Left Behind: The Gun Lobby's Campaign to Push Guns Into Colleges and Schools