Mark Longley: Do we really need more guns on NH college campuses?

To The Daily Sun,

Do we need gun-carrying in college classrooms and dorm rooms? That’s completely nuts. The atmosphere of a college campus should be one of respectful learning. It should be a place participants approach in a spirit of peace, not with a loaded firearm.

Republicans in our State Legislature have just weighed in: Last Thursday, in a party-line vote with only three dissenters, the State House passed a bill (HB 1793) which makes it illegal to bar guns from UNH System campuses.

It’s not like they had to do this for a constitutional reason: rules barring the carrying of firearms from college campuses have repeatedly, and for years, been found constitutional when tested in courts.

There's no demonstrated need for people to be carrying guns on campuses or in classrooms in our state. The idea that this will make campuses safer is crazy. First, our campuses are pretty safe. Second, the evidence overwhelmingly shows that higher gun availability leads to increased harms from guns: homicides, suicides, and unintentional shootings. Young people are particularly vulnerable. Republican legislators should work on actual problems, not pass laws striking down common sense campus gun bans. Will it take a tragedy to convince them otherwise?

It seems Republican legislators fail both to use their tenure constructively, and to vote their conscience. Rather, Republican leaders bludgeon their caucus, which uncritically falls in line on this and other craziness. Legislators are in office to exercise good judgment, not what Jason Osborne tells them to do. The Republican rank and file needs to take a stand for common sense. If not, Granite Staters should relieve them of their duties in November’s elections.

Mark Longley

Sandwich