Bloody shooting rampages on college campuses have shocked American society twice within the last year and unleashed a hefty debate over the country's gun laws each time. ( dpa )
Now the gun lobby, student groups and citizen advocates are fighting for an expansion of the right to carry a concealed weapon.
The push comes as the US Supreme Court debated for the first time in its history on Tuesday whether the US constitution guarantees individuals the right to own and carry guns.
Under the proposals by the student gun lobby - which are not part of the court case - students would be allowed to attend lectures armed with a gun so that if a gunman were to start a rampage in their classroom, they could shoot him dead.
"The only way to stop a person with a gun is another person with a gun," 23-year-old University of Cincinnati student Michael Flitcraft, said, expressing the sentiments of those supporting the legislative change.
Currently, bills are being considered in 12 US states that would allow people who already hold concealed weapons licenses to carry them on campus. With the exception of Utah, all US states currently ban carrying a weapon on campus.
The organizations supporting these initiatives say their goal is limited - not to arm all students, just those who already have licenses to carry a concealed weapon.
But many people find the idea ludicrous and warn of a Wild West environment at US universities.
Doug Pennington, a spokesman for the Brady Campaign Against Gun Violence, said it would be irresponsible to allow armed youth to march into lectures carrying a gun.
"When it comes to colleges and universities, they should be havens - a bastion of safety. You're supposed to go to class to learn stuff, not wondering if the person next to you is competent enough to actually possess a firearm," Pennington told the student newspaper at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas.
While the Supreme Court justices won't rule on whether the nation's capital can ban all handguns until June, the debate Tuesday showed some justices in favour of limits on such guns.
Justices suggested that even if the constitution guarantees the right to own guns, there should be restrictions on their using them - perhaps including a ban of guns on campus.
The movement Students for Concealed Carrying on Campus (SCCC) says it has more than 22,000 members - students, faculty members, parents of students and concerned citizens at hundreds of colleges and universities in all 50 US states.
The initiative was sparked by the April 2007 massacre of 30 students and faculty members at Virginia Polytechnic University in Blacksburg, Virginia. It gained momentum earlier this year after a gunman killed five people in a lecture hall at Northern Illinois University.
The movement says it is not affiliated with the National Rifle Association, the main organization representing gun owners in the US.
SCCC spokesman Scott Lewis says the movement can't promise to prevent all massacres, but with concealed weapons permitted on campuses, the chances are good that any gunman running amok could be quickly stopped.
"Basically what we are advocating is allowing the same individuals who are trained and licensed to carry (guns) in virtually all other unsecured locations - meaning where there are no X-ray machines - to carry on campus," Lewis said on Fox News television.
Lewis says the current restrictions have turned universities into unprotected, ideal targets for suicidal people who want to take innocent lives before they kill themselves.
Critics point out that most everywhere in America, all that's needed for a concealed weapon license is to be 18 or 21, with a clean criminal record.
The Brady campaign spokesman called the movement "shameful" in light of the 30,000 deaths by gun violence every year in the US. If students are armed, it would be difficult for police to identify the attacker, they say.
Paul Helmke, also of the Brady campaign - which is named after James Brady, an aide to late president Ronald Reagan who was permanently disabled by a 1981 assassination attempt - said allowing guns on campus would make things even more dangerous.
"Once you put those guns onto the college campus, into the dorm room, into the frat house, they are going to get lost, they are going to get stolen, they are going to get misused," Helmke said on Fox News.
Students at Virginia Tech find the suggestion of arming students shocking.
Garrett Evans, who was shot in both legs in the attack, said the gunman, Cho Seung Hui, came into his classroom and opened fire so abruptly that no one would have had the chance to shoot back.
"Having guns in the classroom only makes things worse," said Evans.
Omar Samaha, whose sister was killed in the Virginia Tech rampage, said guns on campus risk creating an environment where young people drink and fight and are not always able to control their emotions.
"It's kind of a crazy notion to think about," he said in USA Today "It takes us back to the wild, Wild West."