EDITORIAL: Tere is Safety in Guns

Semi-automatic weaponsSemi-automatic weaponswill allow UPPD officers toSemi-automatic weaponswill allow UPPD officers tobetter protect members of theSemi-automatic weaponswill allow UPPD officers tobetter protect members of theUniversity community.Semi-automatic weaponswill allow UPPD officers tobetter protect members of theUniversity community._______________________________ We applaud UPPD for taking a tough stance on crime and think the University community will benefit from their decision. If our Penn Police officers are to properly protect students from criminals, they should be competitively armed. As criminals are now favoring semi-automatics over revolvers, we must level the playing field and comparably equip our UPPD officers. They should not be at a disadvantage. Revolvers such as the ones used by the Penn Police in recent years are rapidly becoming outdated as semi-automatic weapons are becoming the professional standard. There is no reason to lag behind defensively while the criminals progress offensively. Some critics say that by arming UPPD officers with semi-automatic weapons, the University is encouraging unwarranted firearm use. But if the officers have handled their revolvers responsibly up until this point, there is no reason to assume that they will suddenly behave otherwise. We trust the officers with .38 caliber revolvers -- we should trust them with semi-automatic weapons. We do, after all, hire them to protect us.

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