On Aug. 1, the organization Students for Concealed Carry on Campus will hold its first official organizational meeting in our nation's capital.
As with any controversial issue, it is likely that the meeting will draw many into a heated debate once again. Since the birth of SCCC, Virginia Tech has seen its share of speakers, both for and against the concealed carrying of weapons.
What was expected to be a large turnout this last spring with Eric Thompson, president of TGSCOM - the company that sold the lethal firearm to Seung-Hui Cho - attracted just over 50 students, a seemingly low number compared with original predictions.
The meeting this Friday is projected to draw nearly 150 members. Even for a first gathering, this doesn't appear to be a staggering number of supporters. One must not forget Tech's formation of the SCCC as a Facebook group that has attracted approximately 225 members to date as well.
225 out of 30,000 plus Hokies - the latter number not accounting for alumni around the world - is a miniscule amount of people for such a highly pronounced initiative. People may be agreeing with SCCC's objectives, but it is clear that those either opposed, uninterested or holding a differing opinion greatly outnumber the SCCC's supporters.
Beyond the expected turnout, it remains difficult for many to understand how more guns on campus will inevitably lower the crime rate in the long run. Tech clearly states its policy against carrying weapons on campus, and has done so for some time now.
Permit or no permit; training or no training, guns in the end are used to kill.
A student carrying a gun on his or her body has a greater ability to shoot it than one who does not. While SCCC may see this presumption as a positive note, it likely increases the overall fear in those opposed to concealed carry principles.
If you have to carry a concealed weapon on you around campus to feel safe, why attend that institution in the first place?
The proverbial "this should not have happened at Tech" is an inevitable comeback to this statement. With great sorrow and regret, it did happen, and meeting this Friday to support increasing the weapon presence on campus is not the answer.
The editorial board is composed of David Harries and Susanna Finger.