Allowing firearms on campus will do more harm than good

Editor,

I was disturbed to read Jean Aragon's letter in Monday's Daily Lobo. I sincerely hope New Mexico's concealed-carry training doesn't include the notion that being licensed includes the right to carry concealed weapons everywhere but UNM, as Aragon says.

Aragon specifically mentions bars. If the concealed-carry training is training its students to think it's OK to carry guns into bars, then it's promoting felony behavior. Guns, concealed-carry license or not, are illegal in bars, hospitals and schools under any circumstances in New Mexico. In addition, they're banned from any private property or institution that states guns are not allowed, such as movie theaters and UNM.

Aragon doesn't mention whether she called the UNM Police Department when she got to the safety of her office after her encounter. I hope she did, so the police could do their job. The group of men she describes certainly would stand out, and if they're as aggressive and reckless as she says, then she had a civic and ethical duty to report them to the police as soon as possible. Fighting crime on campus and in the city is a team effort. Citizens, students, staff, faculty and the various law enforcement agencies must work together to ensure the safety of everyone. The police rely on alert citizens to report anything that seems suspicious. UNM police officers have the training and resources to react in an organized manner that maximizes safety for everyone involved.

The notion that an armed citizen brandishing a gun somehow makes a volatile situation safer is not realistic, and it would make it much more difficult for police who have no idea whom the perpetrator might be. While I understand Aragon's concerns for her own safety and that of others, making it lawful for anyone who wants to bring a gun to campus won't help, and, instead, it will likely make more problems than it would solve. For anyone who encounters crime or anything suspicious on campus, the first thought should be, "How do I report this to UNMPD?" Not, "How can I use my gun in this situation?"

Greg Gomez

UNM staff