Point Park University President Paul Hennigan is taking on the controversial issue of arming the school guards as political gun debates and mass shootings have an unfortunate occurrence in today’s society, the issue of weaponry has risen to a critical level of dispute.The university, under the leadership of Hennigan, has been in deliberations about arming the university guards since 2001, but has not made the transition as quickly as other local colleges. Local institutions such as the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University, Chatham University, Duquesne University and Carlow University all have armed security for their campuses.Point Park’s security is currently administered by three different types of security personnel. The Public Safety Department monitors crimes that happen on and around the campus. The department will often correlates with the Pittsburgh Police when dealing with a criminal matter or an emergency situation.AlliedBarton guards are stationed at the entry to the main campus buildings 24 hours a day. They work with Public Safety and the Pittsburgh Police to keep campus safe. In order for any security personnel to legally be able to carry weapons while working in Pennsylvania, they have to obtain a PA Act 235 state certification.Apre-existing Pennsylvania gun registration is not interchangeable with the Act 235 certification. To receive the certification, a 40-hour course must be completed and the price of the course varies depending on which school a trainee chooses.All public safety guards have an Act 235 certification. Previously, Point Park paid for the training fees, but any new hires would be required to have the certification prior to being employed. AlliedBarton guards do not have the clearance at all, but they are required to complete training that is similar to what a police officer receives. The only armed person on campus currently is the Director of Public Safety, Jeffrey Besong.Besong was Carlow’s chief of police before coming to Point Park. He helped implement their first campus police station and hopes to do the same with Point Park. Besong confirmed that the process to arm the guards has been progressive, but will require more debate in the near future. Ultimately the decision is one that will be made by Hennigan.”The president has spoken to the SGA, the staff and the faculty,” Besong said. “The staff was overwhelmingly in favor of it, and so was the SGA. The faculty was probably split.”Nathan Firestone, an adjunct professor at Point Park, teaches law courses and is neutral in his opinion.”Given that this is an urban campus, I wouldn’t see any objection. As long as they have proper training it would be okay,” said Firestone.Firestone added that the “security people strike me as very responsible and capable” of protecting the campus.Kimberly Hampton is a night guard working for AlliedBarton, and she is okay with not carrying a firearm. She added that she would like to “have access to one,” perhaps in a lockbox under the desk.Kionna Squires, a senior elementary education major, supports arming the guards.”They should, because if anything would happen a flashlight wouldn’t save anything,” said Squires.While a lot of students mirror these feelings, some feel opposite.”If they were to carry weapons it may perpetuate violence or possibly provoke someone to bring a weapon that they wouldn’t have [before],” said Sherry Golebiewski, a legal studies major.Point Park will add Code Blue security systems to help keep students safe when they are outside campus buildings. There is no definitive date on when or if the guards will make the switch; the president is still in the process of debating the issue.