Public Safety should carry concealed weapons
Regarding the series, “The Arming Question,” (March 2, March 3 and March 4, 2011):
Henry Rome deserves great credit for a first-rate series on “the arming question.” I would like to add one possibility to the three options discussed in his articles that I think combines all the benefits of the “arm Public Safety officers like policemen” option without its major drawback — i.e., changing the student—Public Safety dynamics.
Most detectives, parole officers and, of course, the Secret Service that protects the President, carry arms, but they are concealed weapons hidden from public view or public display. Many people no doubt feel more comfortable talking to a detective or parole officer who may or may not be carrying a gun concealed under his clothing than a policeman with a gun bulging from his side holster. The same strategy could be applied to Public Safety.
Those Public Safety officials with peace officer status and extensive gun training would simply carry a concealed semi-automatic pistol much the way citizens with concealed-carry permits do in states with right-to-carry laws. The handgun manufacturers have made this an easier proposition today since, in response to the greater demand for concealable weapons created by these latter types of laws, they have come out with numerous high-quality semi-automatic pistols that are light (as light as 10 ounces), reliable in their operation and easily concealable in a garment pocket or back body holster. Some policemen with standard issue sidearms in their hip holsters carry such smaller weapons as secondary backups should their service firearm fail. Undercover cops in civilian clothes who can’t give away that they are packing heat also choose these easily concealable firearms.
If Public Safety officers carried such concealed weapons they could offer emergency, on-the-spot protection in the face of the rare Virginia Tech kind of shooting rampage while in more normal times not upset students who may be uncomfortable around people with publicly displayed firearms. It’s a win-win situation all around.
Russ Nieli GS ’79James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions
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