By ELENA MEUSE

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

As people everywhere continue to mourn the victims of the Dec. 14 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., the issue of gun violence has come to the forefront of American politics.

The issue surrounding current gun safety laws has left the nation polarized with people on both sides of the debate speaking out publicly in the hopes of influencing lawmakers.

Among the advocates for stricter gun control are 300 college and university presidents. Included in that list is Rev. Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of the University, who signed a public letter to lawmakers expressing support for stricter gun control in the United States, and specifically on college campuses.

“A national conversation on gun safety is overdue,” McShane said in a statement made Wednesday morning to The Fordham Ram. “At Fordham specifically, if we are to take seriously our commitment to the culture of life, then we cannot ignore the lethal scourge of gun violence on our streets, on our college campuses and even in our elementary school classrooms.”

The letter, which is available for anyone to view at collegepresidentsforgunsafety.org, was created in mid-December by Lawrence M. Schall, president of Oglethorpe University, and Elizabeth Kiss, president of Agnes Scott College.

The two began writing it shortly after the tragedy in Connecticut, hoping to stimulate change in current gun control policy. While the letter does not call for an outright ban of firearms, it does advocate for tighter laws and restrictions.

The letter stresses four main objectives.

First, it expresses opposition to legislation proposed in several states that would allow guns on college campuses and in classrooms.

Second, it calls for the closure of the gun show loophole which allows people to buy guns without background checks at gun shows from unlicensed dealers.

Third, it urges lawmakers to reinstate the ban on assault weapons and to ban high capacity ammunition magazines.

Finally, it advocates for increased consumer safety standards on guns. The letter was released on Dec. 19 — just five days after 20 children and six adults were shot and killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.

Originally, it had close to 160 signatures, but the number has quickly grown to around 300. This large group of college presidents from throughout the country are calling themselves “College Presidents for Gun Safety,” and Fordham’s president is included in that group.

The letter has sparked criticism among some who question whether it is appropriate for a college president to publicly express opinions on political issues that may not represent the entire university’s view or opinion.

This particular issue, however, is certainly relevant to colleges, considering the deadliest mass shooting in American history occurred on the campus of Virginia Tech in 2007. Since then, there has been continuous debate surrounding the question of how to make college campuses safer.

Most were divided between either calling for an outright ban of firearms on campus to prevent future shootings or increase the presence of guns to allow individuals to defend themselves in the case of an attack.

In 23 states, the decision to allow guns on college campuses is left to each individual college president.

For Fordham in particular, however, guns are banned from campus by New York State law, and the issue of gun usage on the Fordham campus is not under Fr. McShane’s jurisdiction.