Students in Utah can get up in the morning, get dressed and decide which holster looks best with their jeans.
Utah is one of the few states that allow concealed carry of firearms on college campuses, but the law is quickly becoming a national debate. In 2011 alone, at least 14 states introduced 35 bills that would allow students and faculty to carry concealed weapons on college campuses.
One of the participants in the fight is Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, a national, student-run organization comprising more than 43,000 college students, professors, college employees, parents and citizens who advocate for concealed carry on college campuses.
“Students for Concealed Carry on Campus believes that, while campuses are usually safe, they still host every type of violent crime found anywhere else in society, and that students who have gone through the effort to get a concealed carry license should be able to carry in order to better protect themselves,” said Greg Horn, the state director for Students for Concealed Carry on Campus in Ohio.
In addition to the Utah universities, some Colorado schools allow concealed carry on campus, and a state Court of Appeals overruled an Oregon University System prohibition on carry of firearms, according to the Students for Concealed Carry on Campus website.
Several states introduced legislation in response to the surge of bills and laws that would ban or tighten restrictions on concealed weapons.
Felice Schwarz, an Ohio University sophomore studying journalism, said she sees concealed carry as a potential danger.
“I feel that it is very dangerous,” she said. “Sure, in the moment, they are concealed, but the people with the weapons could then reveal them at any moment. Or a weapon could accidentally go off and hurt someone. If a gun is in someone’s car or dorm, other people could find them and steal them or use them. It just seems too dangerous to take a risk on.”
OU’s policy is to enforce state law, OU Police Chief Andrew Powers said in a statement. The Ohio Revised Code prohibits carrying a concealed weapon on university property unless locked in a vehicle.
“Students who drive have the option under state law of storing their gun in their car; however, that has flaws as well,” Horn said. “Students are still unprotected during their walk to their car, and there is always the risk that their car will get broken into and that the criminal will find the firearm.”
Horn added that students are often targeted for certain crimes because of the odd hours they are forced to keep or the valuables they carry with them, such as laptops or smartphones.
“The fact of the matter is, by disarming students when they are on campus, Ohio is also disarming many students off of campus,” he said. “For example, I usually walked to class both at Miami for my undergrad and Cincinnati for law school. This meant that not only was I disarmed for my walk to school, and while I was at school but also for the walk home late at night after I had left the library.”
Kerry Abel, a junior studying English, was not as confident in students’ ability to protect themselves with firearms.
“It makes me very nervous,” she said. “Though we are acknowledged as adults by the state, I do not think that college students are fully mature. I think that while there would be students who use the law to better protect themselves, there would be a greater percentage of students who would abuse it.”
In 2007, Rep. John Adams, R-78th, introduced House Bill 225, which would have allowed concealed carry on Ohio campuses. However, the bill ultimately died in the legislative session. He introduced a similar bill, House Bill 129, in 2009.
“No bills have been brought solely on the issue of campus carry, but they have been part of a few larger bills,” Horn said. “These bills usually die in committee, as oftentimes they propose sweeping changes in concealed-carry law.”
jf392708@ohiou.edu
