Walking down Boylston Street in between classes, the last thing you expect to see is a gun on someone’s hip. In Massachusetts, we benefit from gun restrictions every day; it is illegal to carry a firearm onto a college campus.
But this is not the reality for hundreds of thousands of college students around the United States. On Sept. 10, students at Utah Valley University did not have that same feeling of safety. Nor did conservative influencer Charlie Kirk as he sat down to debate at the first stop on his fall tour of college campuses.
Ultimately, Kirk—like 96 American students and educators so far this year—fell victim to gun violence on school property when he was publicly assassinated just fifteen minutes into his speaking event. Utah, which passed a law in August allowing individuals with permits to openly carry guns onto college campuses, has come under scrutiny for its permissive firearm carry laws. Their irresponsibility has quickly manifested itself in tragedy…