HONOLULU -- The head of security at the University of Hawaii said Monday's shootings in Virginia serve as further proof why UH Manoa needs to give its security force the power to arrest people and carry guns.

UH officials said it is impossible to lockdown the entire 300-acre campus because it is so big and it is in the middle of a crowded Manoa neighborhood. As few as six or seven security guards could be covering the campus at one time.

"It's really terrible. I'm happy that none of that has happened here, not that it couldn't, but it's a really sad story," UH senior Elizabeth Daniels said.

Students reacted with shock when they heard the news about the deaths on another campus thousands of miles away.

"We wish something like that were preventable, but as long as college campuses are open, as they are, as UH Manoa is, it's going to be very difficult to prevent," UH spokesman Gregg Takayama said.

UH has a full-time staff of 41 security guards to protect 30,000 students and another 5,000 faculty and staff. There is a minimum of a half-dozen guards on duty each shift and they do not carry guns or have arrest powers, something the head of security wants to change.

"If it happened today, we would basically have to sit and wait, and as soon as the police could get here, and with different changes in society, terrorism and all of that, I think having that arrest authority would allow us to do more and provide a safer campus," UH Manoa Campus Security Chief Neal Sakamoto said.

Turning UH guards into gun-toting police would require a change in state law, more stringent screening, training and higher salaries.

Students have mixed views on that.

"I think any time you bring guns into the situation, it can exacerbate the problem, but when you're dealing with something like that, I don't know how else you'd deal with somebody in that situation," UH senior Greg Price said.

"Some students have expressed reservations about arming our campus police. Our administrators as well haven't been fully consulted on this. So, we need further discussion of this before we take it to the legislature," Takayama said.

UH said it would use e-mail broadcasts to students and staff if there was a lock-down on campus as Virginia Tech did.

"I don't think it would work that well, because I don't even check my e-mail that much," UH freshman Chris Carvalho said.

However, they admit there is no way to immediately reach thousands of people on campus.

Campus security officials are looking into setting up public address speakers in security vehicles and campus buildings, to make emergency announcements if need be.

UH said for now, the quickest way for them to get out information is probably by using the broadcast media.