As a civilized society, we naturally find the notion of allowing guns on college campuses to be counterintuitive. Guns are associated with irrational violence, and college campuses are associated with rational thought. Keeping the two separated seems like a matter of common sense.

But counterintuitive doesn't always equal wrong, and as Albert Einstein reportedly said, "Common sense is nothing more than a deposit of prejudices laid down by the mind before you reach 18." To resolve the debate over "campus carry," we must put aside our prejudices and look at the facts.

Obtaining a Texas concealed handgun license is an involved process. Both the state police and the FBI run fingerprint and background checks on every applicant, ensuring that licenses are not issued to persons with felony convictions, family violence convictions, recent misdemeanor convictions, or documented histories of substance abuse or serious mental illness.

Applicants must be at least 21 years of age (18 for military personnel) and must attend and pass a 10-hour training course covering weapons laws, nonviolent dispute resolution, use of force, weapons safety and basic marksmanship. Following the course, applicants must pass a shooting test that meets or exceeds all but one of the state's minimum proficiency requirements for law enforcement officers — the one exception being that officers are also required to complete a timed reload.

Fourteen years after Texas issued its first concealed handgun license, few argue that the program has been anything but a success. Statistically, license holders are five times less likely than others to commit a violent crime, and Texans are 20 times more likely to be struck by lightning than to be killed by a license holder.

Though opponents question the maturity of college students and play on fears about alcohol and drug abuse, such arguments have little to do with the issue at hand. Allowing concealed carry on college campuses would not change who can buy a gun or who can obtain a concealed handgun license, and state law would still prohibit license holders from carrying guns while intoxicated. Furthermore, allowing campus carry would not change the regulations at bars and off-campus parties, the places where students are most likely to drink.

Concerns about student suicide also miss the mark. Ninety percent of suicides occur in the victim's home; most students old enough to obtain a concealed handgun license live off campus. If there are concerns about the vulnerability of dorms to theft, those concerns can be addressed without maintaining a campuswide ban on concealed carry.

Other concerns, such as the belief that concealed handgun license holders might somehow make a campus shooting worse, are rooted in Hollywood, not reality. Contrary to what the movies might have us believe, real-world shoot-outs don't involve 10 minutes of people diving through doorways and ducking behind desks to reload. A 1997 FBI study found that most shootouts last less than 10 seconds. How could 10 seconds of exchanged gunfire between an assailant and a concealed handgun license holder possibly lead to greater loss of life than a 10-minute, uncontested execution-style massacre like the one that occurred at Virginia Tech?

Those who suggest that concealed handgun license holders might confuse police or endanger themselves by running around, guns drawn, looking for an active shooter understand neither the purpose of concealed carry nor the training required. License holders must keep their weapons concealed until and unless they encounter an immediate threat of death or serious bodily harm. They are specifically taught not to seek out an active shooter.

Concealed handgun license holders carry handguns for personal protection, not so they can act like amateur one-man SWAT teams. And most police officers know this. The vice president of the Houston Police Officers Union, the largest police union in Texas, recently dismissed concerns about license holders adding to the confusion of an active shooter situation and announced that his organization supports campus carry.

Though campus carry may seem like a radical idea, it's not unproven. Thirty-three U.S. campuses have allowed it for an average of five years, without incident. Another 38 campuses began allowing it at the beginning of this semester.

In light of these facts, what is the logic behind state laws and school policies prohibiting campus carry? What purpose do they serve, beyond placing law-abiding students and faculty at the mercy of any criminal willing to disregard state law and school policy? Why should trained, licensed, carefully screened adults be allowed the means to defend themselves at a movie theater on Saturday and in a church on Sunday but not in a college classroom on Monday?

Lewis is Texas legislative director of Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, editor of CampusCarry.com and a student at Austin Community College.