ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the campus gun debate through Kohlberg’s ethical development model. Practitioner/scholars draw upon student development theories as a natural template for contemplation and discussion about young-adult behavior. They acknowledge that although student development theories all have limitations, the theories at least offer guideposts for deeper considerations about students’ behavior. The revised Gun-Free Schools Act further imposed restrictions on guns in educational environments by focusing on punishment for those found guilty of bringing firearms to school. In the 1990s, federal and state legislators reacted to threats of gun violence in educational environments by implementing tough federal legislation, which defined parameters and provided guidelines for minimum sanctions—a structural frame solution. By 2008, the reaction to gun violence in educational environments had shifted to a political tug-of-war. The prevailing approach to gun violence in educational environments has been through structural actions and political actions.
