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Just imagine this, no matter how unlikely it seems. You’re on the third floor of the library doing something innocuous or mundane — let’s say that you’re cramming for an exam or thumbing through the pages of your textbook when you hear a loud and distinct popping sound, something that sounds like firecrackers. Your desire to maintain a sense of normalcy grapples with your feeling that something just isn’t right. You try to rationalize that the noise must be some type of work that’s being done downstairs, probably a maintenance man repairing something. It’s only when you hear the screams of your fellow students that you realize that you’re involved in an active shooter situation.

Everyone has been exposed to the events that have recently occurred in the last two years: a group of terrorists massacred concert-goers in France, a husband and wife team gunned down their coworkers in an event deemed “workplace violence” and, more recently, a lone gunman opened fire on innocent people in an Orlando nightclub. The standard issue government protocol dictates that victims should run, hide and then, as a last resort, fight. I must admit to you that I sneer when I read “fight.” Fight? Fight with what? My fists? In a life or death situation I’m supposed to bulrush my attacker with nothing but my fists or some blunt object near me? Let’s be honest with ourselves: it’s irrational. It’s a suicide mission. Which, I guess brings me to my reason for writing this: I want to be on a level playing field with my attacker; I want to be able to carry my pistol while on campus.

I can hear the collective groan of readers, “oh, man, not another card-carrying member of the NRA here to push pro-gun statistics down our throats.” Just hear me out before you stop reading.

Let’s look at some statistics of shootings that have occurred on three campuses that have recently legalized campus carry. Idaho State University allows individuals with special concealed carry permits and retired law enforcement officers to carry firearms on campus. Since ISU’s implementation of campus carry in 2014, there have been no deadly shootings on campus by an individual legally carrying a firearm. Next, the state of Utah deems colleges and universities as public entities; thus, campuses are not allowed to infringe upon student rights to carry a firearm (as long as they meet state requirements to carry). Again, there have been no deadly shootings on any college campus in Utah. Finally, Colorado State University allows students to carry handguns while on campus provided they have a permit to do so. They also limit the areas in which students can carry (firearms are prohibited in the dining halls and residential areas). You guessed it, there are no cases in which a deadly shooting has occurred on the Colorado State campus since the implementation of campus carry.

You have no doubt been the recipient of countless B-Alerts detailing crimes that have occurred to victims unable to protect themselves. It seems every month my phone rings in the middle of the night, and an automated message informs me that another student was mugged at gunpoint. In an early morning class, after receiving a B-alert the night before, a fellow student asked me: “When does it ever stop?” I’ve come to the conclusion that it stops when the victims become able to adequately defend themselves.