Three college professors who favor forcing Texas colleges to accept loaded, concealed handguns on campus wrote on Viewpoints last week, saying they "want to reduce the odds of a Virginia Tech massacre happening on a Texas college campus."

I was shot at Virginia Tech. With respect, I think those professors are clueless about what it's like to be in the middle of such a situation. I think putting weapons on Texas campuses is a crazy, dangerous idea.

April 16, 2007 was a normal Monday that turned into the most horrific day of my life. I almost didn't go to French class in Norris Hall that day because I was late. My friend Kristina had asked me to pick her up, and by the time we got to campus, the class had already started.

Twenty minutes after we sat down, we started hearing a muffled banging noise. I thought it was part of the construction noise we'd been hearing all semester. Then it got louder and closer.

Our teacher had an odd expression. She went to the door and looked out, quickly shut it and said, "Everyone get under your desks – somebody call 911!" We dove for the floor. I dove under a desk, took out my phone and dialed 911.

The first time, I only saw the shooter's boots and khakis. I never did see his face. For a split second, I thought he was an undercover cop. Then he was at my feet, and shot me in the knee. Strangely, there was no pain. I really didn't figure out what was going on until I smelled the gunpowder. Then he shot me in my hip. I threw the phone away and tried to act like a rag doll.

He left. It was quieter as he continued shooting in other rooms. I remember a gurgling sound. It felt like hours, an eternity, though in reality it was moments.

Then he came back.

I was shot again, through my shoulder. Then again, in my other hip. And then it was silent. It just stopped. I thought he was hiding.

When the SWAT team came, I heard them calling out, "this one's yellow. This one's red. Black tag. Black tag." I remember being dragged out of the room.

Three scholars wrote in the Journal of American College Health in 2002 "college gun owners are more likely than those who do not own guns to engage in activities that put themselves and others at risk." I experienced that first-hand.

Proposals like concealed weapons on campus are knee-jerk reactions to a rare event, not an effective means of preventing another tragedy. The Texas Council of Faculty Senates is against it. One college police chief called the proposal "just crazy when you think about it." A few days ago, hundreds of University of Texas students walked out of class to protest the proposal at the state Capitol, on Virginia Tech's two-year anniversary.

Remember, my whole class thought it was construction noise. Then I thought the killer was a police officer. I barely had time to make the phone call. Anyone who thinks I could have gotten to a weapon and shot somebody I never fully saw watches too many movies.

Instead of putting more guns in that classroom two years ago, I would work toward removing the two that were there, in the hands of the shooter. Guns on campus were the problem two years ago, not the solution. And we have to solve the problem, not make more of them.

Colin Goddard is a graduate of Virginia Tech University and works for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence in Washington. His e-mail address is colin@bradynetwork.org.