In the wake of Thursday's shooting on the campus of Northern Illinois University where six people were killed including the gunman, the issue of allowing students and faculty to carry concealed weapons on campus is getting renewed attention.

For many students, the recent campus shooting brought back many memories of Virginia Tech. There were some mixed reactions about whether or not guns on the school's campus would create a safer or more dangerous environment.

Virginia has been wrestling with this issue for years.

"In hindsight, it's easy to look back and say you know, if someone had had a gun, who was licensed and knew how to carry it, they could have stopped the killer," says Kate Joyce, a JMU student.

So should students and faculty be allowed to carry a concealed weapon on campus? JMU Professor Dorn Peterson says concealed weapon holders are statistically seven times more law-abiding than the average person.

He says, "When you make a rule or a law that says you shouldn't be on campus with a concealed handgun, what you're doing is you're leaving [out] the people who actually pay attention to the law, and those are exactly the people who you don't need to worry about."

However, others believe carrying guns on campus isn't going to make these situations any safer. These people also think only a few should have the privilege.

"Limited to law enforcement or military, and that those of us who are civilians should not be carrying weapons," says John Gilje, a JMU professor.

At a time when the Virginia Tech tragedy remains a sore memory for many students in Virginia, the debate has become energized.

JMU student Michael Parsons says, "I don't want kids being heroes. I don't want them to try to solve it themselves. That's going to make the situation worse. I think that kids with concealed weapons on campus, even the best intentioned kids, just make it a more dangerous place in general. I feel like police officers should be allowed to carry it on campus with security, but not students or professors."

Even though campus shootings are rare, students at JMU say they feel safe while they're on campus, but they also point out that JMU is just as vulnerable as any other school in the nation.