"Guns on Campus: A Chilling Effect" by Kenneth M. Mash (NEA, Thought & Action) [View all]

[petronius]

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In Keyishian v. Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York (1967), the U.S. Supreme Court asserted that the college “classroom is peculiarly the ‘marketplace of ideas,’” and it has pointed to the necessity of training leaders to consider a variety of perspectives.¹ The common expectation of the college experience is one where faculty will challenge students’ beliefs and students will challenge each other. We expect that engaging tough conversations about deeply held beliefs can result in intellectual growth. But this is the type of activity that often also results in emotional responses and high tempers. Successfully navigating these stormy waters can be a challenge, and not everyone allows those conversations and challenges to take place because of the risks. Throw in the possibility that some-one is armed with a deadly weapon, and one might reasonably ask whether it is worth the potential risk to themselves or to other students.

Creating a true marketplace of ideas free from offensive language, as any professor can attest, is a challenge. There are even disagreements about the conditions that will best lead to an atmosphere that is conducive to open and honest discussion. Whatever our perspectives, there can be no doubt that, at minimum, there should not be any fear on the part of the students or faculty that they could be subject to violence or the threat of violence brought about by the use of a deadly weapon. Many have written on the overall topic of safety with regard to allowing guns on college campuses. However, not much has been said about how allowing the possession of deadly weapons can create a “chilling effect” on academic discussions. The Supreme Court has frequently used the notion of a “chilling effect” to strike down laws that potentially punish speech and that potentially keep people from expressing their views out of fear that they will have to litigate to protect their free speech rights. To the degree that allowing people to carry weapons on campus stifles open discussion, limits the marketplace of ideas, and hinders training students about engaging difficult ideas that challenge their core values, it also creates a “chilling effect.”

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http://www.nea.org/assets/docs/HE/TA2013Mash.pdf

http://www.nea.org/home/1821.htm

Prof. Mash argues that allowing legal CCW on campus would create fear and stifle discussion, but I think the argument is based on erroneous assumptions about how CCW holders behave. If students would be inspired to whip out a gun during a heated academic discussion, why are CCW holders not doing that as a matter of course in other arenas? By the same token, almost every student in the classroom is armed with a fist - and the psychological barrier to throwing a punch has got to be lower than pulling a trigger - yet classroom discussion sessions rarely seem to escalate into brawls...