Students' Second Right
By: Editorial Board
Issue date: 2/18/05 Section: Ed-Op
Originally published: 2/18/05 at 12:49 PM EST
Last update: 2/18/05 at 12:52 PM EST
Originally published: 2/18/05 at 12:49 PM EST
Last update: 2/18/05 at 12:52 PM EST
So, another Drexel student has been the victim of violent crime. It is a real shame that we now look upon each story as a statistic instead of a tragedy. We have empathy for those who are hurt, either emotionally or physically, by the violent actions of the community that surrounds us. As residents of this city, we should expect that Philadelphia, like other urban areas, experience higher crime rates than our rural and suburban counterparts. This begs the question - at what point do we stop accepting a reality and begin to take action against a preventable evil?
Drexel Security is privately contracted through Specta Guard to provide unarmed patrolling of the campus and surrounding areas. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that the guards aren't receiving police tactics training. They are regular people who provide a service to students. We cannot expect them to be superheroes, especially considering the fact that they are unarmed. Campuses all over urban America staff armed their patrol officers and trained them to use their weapons when the situation warrants it. Why does Drexel not join the ranks and provide more effective security to us?
Coincidentally, Drexel seems to have a policy of not only leaving its guards unarmed, but also the students it values so much. Even if a student is licensed to carry a firearm in the Commonwealth, Drexel forbodes them to do so anywhere on University property.
Have to walk to 40th and Spring Garden at 10 p.m. after classes? You better have your track and field skills nailed down. Washington, D.C. implemented a total gun ban on its citizens decades ago. Its homicide rate currently rivals that of smaller, war-torn countries.
A microcosm of this result is experienced when a campus is effectively disarmed.
Drexel can create all the gun rules it wants to, but the criminals who rob, steal, rape, and assault will not pay attention to those rules. The gun control mind-set of the administration is designed to make the parents feel better. "My child is on a gun-free campus, woohoo!" shouts a parent. Criminals looking for their next hit of Crystal Meth care not that Drexel is gun-free, but the student walking with his girlfriend at midnight certainly will. Does the administration really believe that making a rule preventing all guns on campus will cause a criminal to think, "Wait, wait now. I don't want to get Drexel mad at me, they may ticket my stolen car."
Drexel Security is privately contracted through Specta Guard to provide unarmed patrolling of the campus and surrounding areas. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that the guards aren't receiving police tactics training. They are regular people who provide a service to students. We cannot expect them to be superheroes, especially considering the fact that they are unarmed. Campuses all over urban America staff armed their patrol officers and trained them to use their weapons when the situation warrants it. Why does Drexel not join the ranks and provide more effective security to us?
Coincidentally, Drexel seems to have a policy of not only leaving its guards unarmed, but also the students it values so much. Even if a student is licensed to carry a firearm in the Commonwealth, Drexel forbodes them to do so anywhere on University property.
Have to walk to 40th and Spring Garden at 10 p.m. after classes? You better have your track and field skills nailed down. Washington, D.C. implemented a total gun ban on its citizens decades ago. Its homicide rate currently rivals that of smaller, war-torn countries.
A microcosm of this result is experienced when a campus is effectively disarmed.
Drexel can create all the gun rules it wants to, but the criminals who rob, steal, rape, and assault will not pay attention to those rules. The gun control mind-set of the administration is designed to make the parents feel better. "My child is on a gun-free campus, woohoo!" shouts a parent. Criminals looking for their next hit of Crystal Meth care not that Drexel is gun-free, but the student walking with his girlfriend at midnight certainly will. Does the administration really believe that making a rule preventing all guns on campus will cause a criminal to think, "Wait, wait now. I don't want to get Drexel mad at me, they may ticket my stolen car."
