University of California – Berkeley student Jacob F. Grant is truly on the front lines, when it comes to defending the Second Amendment.

In The Daily Californian, he reminds students of some of its benefits.

…Thus, it would seem that those hoping to restrict people’s legal right to guns are on the wrong side of history. Be that as it may, under California law, it is still the case that “any person who brings or possesses a loaded firearm upon the grounds of a campus of … a public or private university or college” without the “written permission of the university or college president” is in violation of the law. But with concealed-carry permits now available to most law-abiding Californians, we should allow those with permits to carry their weapons on college campuses. Obviously, private colleges and universities should have the right to decide for themselves whether they will allow concealed carry on their campuses; they are, after all, private institutions. But public universities, including UC Berkeley, should not be allowed to deny law-abiding citizens their constitutional rights on campus.

There is more to this argument than just personal liberty — although that alone should be reason enough. Those who favor strict gun control often point to the recent rise in mass shootings, where one or two gunmen murder as many people as they can before police arrive. There have been numerous instances throughout the country in which people with legally concealed weapons stop crimes, including potential mass shootings, almost before they have begun. It should therefore come as little surprise that almost every single mass shooting in the last several decades has taken place in “gun-free zones” — places where people are forbidden to carry weapons. It is a literal realization of the adage that “if carrying guns is a crime, only criminals will carry guns.”

I should be clear that I am not advocating that everyone carry a gun at UC Berkeley, or on any other campus. Rather, those students or faculty who have met the legal criteria to carry a concealed weapon outside their home — those who have attended safety training, passed a background check and showed themselves to be law-abiding citizens — should be allowed to do so on campus. I also think that universities such as UC Berkeley should take an active role in helping provide educational resources regarding guns, including gun-safety training, to their students.

At the end of the day, guns are simply powerful tools, and they should neither be feared nor misunderstood. Law-abiding students and faculty have the right to use them for self-defense, whether to prevent mass shootings or defend against sexual assault, and this right should extend to the campus grounds of public universities.