New Orleans had 199 homicides in 2011, making it America’s most deadly city.
The three years prior, saw an average of 175 murders annually, according to The Times-Picayune.
Baton Rouge averaged 30 murders for every 100,000 people in 2011, placing seventh on the nationwide list.
A proposed amendment to the state constitution making its way through the legislature would make guns easier to get. Simple as that.
The lawmakers can call it protecting the Second Amendment, as if the government would ever be crazy enough to try to disarm citizens. The only reason disarmament worked in the U.K. is because the British prefer to beat and stab each other.
The proposed amendment could go so far as to allow guns in churches and schools.
Has anyone ever sat in church and been disappointed they left their pistol at home? Do people actually do that?
Giving ordinary citizens the right to essentially “play police” after an afternoon or two of training is ludicrous.
I recently received an e-mail from a gentleman from New Hampshire. He gave me the link to a Fox News story about a female student in Nevada who was sexually assaulted walking to her car on her university campus late at night.
The woman had a concealed weapons license but was not allowed to carry the weapon on campus.
What do you say to something like this? Obviously, we all wish this woman had been carrying her handgun at the time. This is a situation when lethal force is needed for a person to protect herself.
But if we allow this woman to carry a gun on campus, we have to allow everyone else to do the same. That includes individuals like Anders Breivik, the Virginia Tech shooters and the clock tower sniper from the University of Texas.
With the laws currently in place, it’s still possible for a shooter to easily come to campus. So why amend the constitution to make their job easier?
Why make it so an individual in plain clothes with a holstered revolver no longer stands out as unusual?
We have to find a balance. Instances like the one in Nevada should never occur because a person cannot adequately protect themselves. That being said, we cannot toss a Glock 9mm at anyone who wants it.
If the constitution is amended, which I believe it likely will be, the state must take measures to protect the rights of those who do not carry guns equally as much as they protect the rights of those who pack heat on the daily.
Lengthier and more thorough training is needed for individuals who wish to carry a concealed weapon, along with a more intensive psychological examination.
We must keep guns out of the classroom and preferably off campus entirely. If students feel unsafe on campus, I advise them to make use of non-lethal projectile weapons, like taser guns or mace.
Instead of Student Government spending time and money establishing a campus-wide recycling program or rerouting a drunk bus to downtown, maybe they should work to have panic buttons installed across campus or improve LSUPD’s late-night presence.
Gun rights are not in jeopardy. Citizens will forever have the right to compensate for their inadequate sexual abilities with a jet black semi-automatic.
The Second Amendment gives citizens “the right to keep and bear arms.” Nowhere does it say “all the damn time.”
 
Parker Cramer is a 21-year-old political science junior from Houston. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_pcramer.
 
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Contact Parker Cramer at [email protected]