There’s an elephant in the room; it’s time to give it a name: Concern.

We’re concerned, not just for our financial aid or for a guaranteed spot in a class, but for our safety.

Even if it isn’t the first thing we think about when we set foot on our campus, or the last thing we consider when we shuffle out the door, there’s a question lurking in the back of our minds in light of recent events:

How safe is our campus?

What if something like (insert latest student-related shooting or stabbing here) was to happen at Cerritos College?

The truth is we’re never safe.

Due to circumstances outside of our control, we can never be completely safe.

You can’t see a gun hiding in a backpack until it goes off and you can’t read the thoughts of a mentally ill individual until he shoots into a crowd.

If one of these incidents was to happen on our campus, we wouldn’t see it coming—there is no shame in that.

There is shame, however, in admitting that we know we aren’t prepared to deal with such circumstances, and we’re waiting for someone get the hint that it’s time to make a decision.

This isn’t a plea to buy fancy weapons that someone somewhere in this school will label as an avoidable expense.

This is a call to action—some action—that shows this school is working as a collective unit to reach a decision.

It’s necessary and fair to include everyone’s voice; it’s unfair to shut out the majority of the student body.

Even without an official all-inclusive town hall meeting where both sides present their argument, students have found one way to put in our vote.

Our student senators and officers have already voted unanimously on the issue and even submitted a motion to grant our campus police department the right—better yet, the responsibility—to equip its officers with firearms while on duty.

The sad truth is: We don’t have the power to cast the final vote, even if we outnumber faculty and administrators.

When it comes to supplying our police officers with the necessary tools to do their job to the best of their ability, it’s easy to come to a conclusion.

When it comes to making a decision that affects more than 23,300 lives, we need to make it a priority to discuss the subject and make it clear that we’re all listening.

We’re all thinking about this; we’re all waiting.