This week marks the second nationwide Open Holster Protest put on by Students for a Concealed Campus. Those participating walk around wearing empty holsters around the waist. This is a great use of the freedom of assembly, and is the perfect opportunity to open up a campus-wide dialogue about the issue at hand.

While it’s understandable that some feel less safe in the week of school shootings such as Northern Illinois University and Virginia Tech, allowing students to walk around campuses with firearms is not the answer. I personally would feel far less safe knowing that potentially thousands of students, a majority of whom I don’t know nor do I trust with my safety, are walking around carrying guns.

One of the biggest concerns with allowing the concealed carry of weapons is that it equates out to vigilantism. We live in a society where our tax dollars help pay to train law enforcement officials to keep us safe and out of harm’s way.

While I can certainly acknowledge that police aren’t always immediately nearby to help with a situation, others who may decide to take the defense of themselves and others into their own hands are not trained to handle dangerous situations safely or effectively. This could lead to a number of problems: people could be unintentionally injured, anyone who may try to defend against a criminal may incur legal charges for their actions and when police arrive on the scene it could lead to confusion as to who is the shooter and who is the defender.

Many proponents of concealed carry cite the Second Amendment as supporting their cause. The problem with this is that there is much speculation as to whether or not the Second Amendment applies on an individual basis or on a group basis along the order of militias.

These concerns are not specific to only students, as they are shared by even some of the schools highest administrative officials.

“I just see guns having no place on campus, with the exception of sworn law enforcement officials,” Rich Egley, dean of students, said. “I just see it fraught with problems.”

It’s easy to feel unsafe on a college campus, or even in society in general. But it is vital that as a community and a society we tread carefully in attempting to make our lives safer, because it’s far too easy to make a mis-step that could wind up introducing far more problems than solutions.