Students, Faculty And Lawmakers Debate Issue Of Guns On Campus

In the wake of tragic shootings on the campuses of Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois University, debate has centered on whether college students and teachers should be able to carry their own firearms on school grounds. While every state except Illinois and Wisconsin allow some form of concealed handgun carrying rights, Utah is the only state that expressly allows students to carry concealed weapons on campus.

A group called Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, currently counting about 8,000 students as members, is arguing that students and faculty who are already licensed to carry concealed weapons should be allowed to do so on college grounds. The organization is non-partisan, and does not affiliate itself with the National Rifle Association or any other group. One protest organized by the group had students from 110 colleges and universities going to class wearing empty holsters. Spokesman Scott Lewis said "We're not proposing to arm every student," but that students who can already legally carry elsewhere should be able to do so at school.

Opponents to the idea of guns on campus point to the differences between college campuses and other public places where concealed weapons are allowed. At college, large numbers of young adults are living in close quarters, dealing with heavy academic and social pressures along with the normal stresses of life. They are getting used to being away from home, and may be experimenting with drugs and alcohol. W. Gerald Massengill, chairman of the independent panel that investigated the Virginia Tech shootings, said that those concerns outweigh the argument that armed students could reduce fatalities during shooting incidents. A former head of the Virginia state police, he said he is "a strong supporter of the Second Amendment", but that "our society has changed, and there are some environments where common sense tells us that it's just not a good idea to have guns available." Another fear of guns-on-campus opponents is that a shooting incident with a single shooter would erupt into a chaotic shootout between multiple parties, possibly increasing fatalities.

Utah will be the state to watch, as it is seen what results will occur from being the only state that allows concealed weapons on its campuses. The University of Utah, based in Salt Lake City, banned firearms on its campus until that ban was struck down by the state's Supreme Court in late 2006. That institution, backed by all the other universities in the state, is still fighting through the federal courts to reinstate the ban. Meanwhile, state legislators are considering a bill to modify the current law to allow people in Utah to carry loaded weapons openly, not just concealed. This would also include students.

To get a permit to carry a concealed weapon in the state of Utah, a person must be 21 years old, have no criminal record of violent, immoral, or substance-related crime, and be mentally competent. These are among other qualifications. Utah State Representative Curtis Oda, who is sponsoring the bill to allow for open carrying of weapons, has stressed that people with permits have gone through rigorous checks. "When you see someone with a gun, you are looking at some of the most law-abiding people in the state," he said.

Opinions naturally vary among students in Utah. Private universities such as Brigham Young University in Provo still have the power to ban weapons on campus. On the subject of shootings, one BYU student noted that "the people that do it (shooters) want to commit suicide anyway," so he felt guns would not necessarily stop a potential killer. However, he noted that "it would give students a chance to defend themselves, and at Virginia Tech, it could have ended sooner than it did."