Human beings generally operate under the assumption that bad things will never happen to us. We like to think that, for whatever reason, tragedy will avoid intervening with our lives. But I’m sure the people of Aurora, Newtown and now, most recently, Houston never thought that anything would interrupt their daily routines either.

So think about it. What would you do if there was a gunman on campus? How would you react?

An Indiana bill that is awaiting to be passed will allow people to carry guns on campus. Regardless of which side you fall on with the issue, it should get us all thinking more about what’s really important – the reality of having guns regularly present with students on a college campus.

A college campus should be a safe haven. In the midst of all the stress that presents itself in a typical school day, the tension and potential threat of deadly weapons just because they are present legally are not what we need. Guns in public places on people who are not in uniform give us a feeling of unease.

We support better security measures. Having better security measures and training in place would promote a better environment – a safer atmosphere, if  you will. There would be little reason for personal concealed weapons if we had trained security and well-known security procedures.

We need people besides ourselves to act as the peacekeepers. We need them to ensure we can go about our day without worrying about the potential of danger.

Bad things can happen anywhere, at any time, to anyone. But we shouldn’t have to worry daily about our safety as students on a college campus.

We should be aware that bad things happen, but we should not have to be directly responsible for stopping a gunman while on campus. We pay to learn and to live here and expect security and the administration to keep us safe.

Campus is the place where we learn and where some of us live most of the year. It’s where people can afford to spend the whole day outside, weather permitting. It’s where people can play a pickup game of basketball between classes without thinking about death or disaster.

We should be able to feel safe on campus without taking matters into our own hands.