concealed guns on campus

We have a right as Americans to a "well regulated Militia" AKA the national Guard.  When the 2nd amendment was writen the founding fathers still belived that a standing army was unnecessary and that we could protect ourselves with a Militia or the minutemen as they were called.  Now 200 years later we have both a national guard and standing army.

  If people want guns for hunting I have no problem, but semi-automatic weapons I feel should be outlawed as the only thing they are good for is killing people.

Frankly Scarlet . . . nah, just kidding.  There is plenty of academic debate as to the true meaning of the 2nd Amendment.  You omitted the part that says "the right of the people . . . shall not be abridged"   It is arguable that if they meant any kind of organized body they could have said army.  Militia implies that the right lies with the people.  If such a militia were dependent on some centralized body for its arms, it would undermine the justification for wanting a militia over a standing army.  So it is quite possible that they intended for the people to be armed as individual citizens.

Also, just because we are a more modern society does not mean that there is no longer the need for self-protection.  If you could only afford to live in a poor neighborhood with a high crime rate, why shouldn't you be able to protect yourself?  The courts have repeatedly indicated that the police are under no affirmative duty to protect anybody, and cannot be held liable for failure to do so.

Back to the original point, the primary complaint that I hear is that we don't want drunk knuckleheads with guns.  I understand the concern, but odds are the worst ones already have them.  There are a number of studies that indicate that crime rates drop significantly when concealed-carry laws are passed (John Lott has a good book on the isue - More Guns, Less Crime).  Also, if you want to pull off the next VT or Columbine, where are you going to go?  Not to the school that permits concealed carry.  You are going to go to the one that enforces a gun-free zone.

There is always a concern that people will act irresponsibly.  If you constantly dumb America down to satisfy the least common denominator in society, then you take away the spirit of indiviuality that makes this country great.  Constantly looking to the government to save us rather than teaching self-reliance and personal responsibility is a recipe for the decline of our nation.  We are already well on our way, and looking at the remaining three presidential candidates, it appears that help won't be coming anytime soon.

They need to change their motto then.