HB 1793 will lead to needless deaths
As a UNH faculty member, every few years I receive a sad email from upper administration reporting the death of a student from an accident, a medical cause or suicide.
If HB 1793 passes, I expect to receive those emails much more often. I’m not just worried about students doing stupid things while drunk — I’m also worried that if we have an active shooter on campus, the presence of more guns will lead to more casualties (in the active shooter response training led by UNH Police, they explain that in the midst of such an incident they will take down anyone with a gun: they won’t wait to ask who started it).
But my greatest concern is that we will have many more successful suicides. Guns are a very effective way to kill oneself, not just other people. I fear that more deaths by suicide will be the inevitable outcome of having more guns on campus, where many students struggle with stress, depression and other conditions that are treatable — if they’re stilll alive.
I don’t want to receive more sad emails, especially not about deaths we could have prevented by simply maintaining the current campus gun policies endorsed by the UNH and Durham Police.
I urge all members of the Senate Judiciary Committee to oppose this dangerous bill.