We can no longer allow the powerful gun lobby to stall needed gun reforms. We don't need any more mass school shootings to make that point.
Princeton University's decision to arm its campus police officers if they have to respond to gun incidents is not a surprising move in light of the all too frequent mass shootings that have occurred on school grounds around the country.
The killing of nine people by a shooter at Umpqua Community College in Washington state on Oct. 1 was just the latest example of gun mayhem at a school. The death toll mounts considerably with past horror scenes at Virginia Tech in 2007 with 33 killed, Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012 with 27 killed, and six deaths each at Santa Monica College in 2013 and Northern Illinois University in 2008.
In the past 10 years, there have been at least 55 incidents of gun-related deaths in American schools that have resulted in 144 people killed, according to an unofficial tally.
In light of all this violence caused by people armed with guns, Princeton University would be remiss if it did not have a plan of action to respond to similar situations on campus.
MORE: Princeton University security will have access to guns
The university's Department of Public Safety recently announced that its 32 sworn officers will have access to rifles in emergencies involving an active gun threat.
The officers, however, will not regularly carry weapons while on duty, a university spokesman said, but they are already qualified to use a firearm as part of their training and additional training is planned to ensure officers are certified under the state's Division of Criminal Justice Police Training Commission standards.
Thankfully the campus police will continue to be unarmed as they perform their normal security duties rather than presenting a more threatening presence with guns and ammo clips dangling from their uniforms.
Campus cops bristling with guns would tarnish the image of Princeton as a peaceful town, a reputation bolstered recently by a survey done by the financial website SmartAsset, which ranked Princeton as the top college town in the country in part because of its low crime rate.
But no matter how nonviolent a community is, it only takes one deranged person armed with a weapon capable of inflicting mass casualties just a few seconds to turn a tranquil town into a bloody crime scene.
Princeton University's planning for a possible shooting incident, while prudent and necessary, is at best a reactive precaution.
What this country needs are more proactive policies that promote gun safety and mental health services on a national level.
New Jersey tightened its gun laws after the school massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn. The state now bans large capacity ammunition magazines and assault weapons and the legislature is considering other measure to keep guns out of the hands of people who should not have them.
But nationally, Congress has been in a stalemate about gun safety following the failure of the Senate to pass a comprehensive and bipartisan background checks bill in 2013. In that time, nearly 100 school shootings have occurred across the country, according to the FBI.
We can no longer allow the powerful gun lobby to stall needed gun reforms. We don't need any more mass school shootings to make that point.
