The Northern Arizona University shooting, the Tennessee University shooting, the Oregon shooting- all headlines that have recently been on the news. These are just a few of the many violent events that have happened at Universities throughout the United States. Do these events suggest that universities are no longer safe?

Just because a few mentally insane people  manage to get their hands on guns does not mean that universities are not safe. The Oregon shooting, at Umpqua College, is one example of this. The shooter, Chris Harper-Mercer, grew up around guns. He also grew up with poorly treated Asperger’s. His mother, a nurse, told reporters sometimes he took his medicine, sometimes he didn’t (New York Times).

In this situation it isn’t that the university is unsafe it is that one person is dangerous which then makes any place they go unsafe. Harper-Mercer could just as easily gone to the grocery store to let off a few rounds. If he had done that people would have called it one horrible accident, they wouldn’t be questioning the safety of universities.

Universities go the distance when it comes to safety, some even have a blue light system. The blue light system is an emergency phone. There’s also button on the pole that sends a signals to the police that someone needs help. When you stand at one blue light, there is always a blue light post in sight. This is allows someone to run from one blue light to the next, this allows police to track your movements if you are in trouble (Campus Guardian).

What the blue light system shows is that campuses go out of their way to ensure the safety of their students. The recent doubt is based off a few ill-fated incidents in which separate individuals decided to attack a college. They could attack anywhere, but since they decided to attack a college the doubt is there. What if instead of better universities what we need is safer laws? Somehow, these horrible people who want to harm others manage to get guns. Some of these people have serious mental deficits and should be under stricter observation. Whatever the problem is, it doesn’t appear to be university safety. Instead, it looks like bad odds and carelessness.

Shootings and other attacks can happen anywhere. Maybe, a number of these attacks happened at colleges. But have you ever heard a situation in which the universities could have been better prepared? Or have you heard of an unfortunate situation that was completely unpredictable?

Savannah Houdeshell, staff writer

Freshman Savannah Houdeshell is a staff writer for the 2015-2016 Colonel. She participates in Operation Smile and is on the soccer team.