{"id":19664,"date":"2017-05-15T10:17:52","date_gmt":"2017-05-15T14:17:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/?p=19664"},"modified":"2021-05-21T07:51:50","modified_gmt":"2021-05-21T11:51:50","slug":"current-laws-on-guns-on-campus-in-the-united-states","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/current-laws-on-guns-on-campus-in-the-united-states\/","title":{"rendered":"Current Laws on Guns on Campus in the United States"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two deadly attacks took place at separate higher education institutions in Texas this month, just 2 days apart. On May 1, 2017, Kendrex White, a student at the University of Texas at Austin, went on a <\/span>stabbing rampage<\/span><\/a> on campus, killing freshman Harrison Brown and wounding three other students. Then on May 3, Adrian Torres shot and killed student Janeera Nickol Gonzalez before taking his own life at <\/span>North Lake College<\/span><\/a>, a community college in Irving, Texas.<\/span><\/p>\n

Texas has a history of on-campus tragedies. The University of Texas at Austin was the setting for the <\/span>first mass shooting on a U.S. college campus<\/span><\/a> on August 1, 1966, which is often referred to as the Tower Shooting. An engineering student Charles Whitman, who was a Marine-trained sniper, had armed himself with rifles, pistols and a sawed-off shotgun and killed 13 people and injured 31 others from the university\u2019s clock tower before he was shot dead by police. <\/span><\/p>\n

Since then, there have been many <\/span>more gun-related violence and mass shootings<\/span><\/a> in the U.S., including in educational institutions. <\/span><\/p>\n

Response to Violence on Campus<\/b><\/span><\/h5>\n

In 2007, after the Virginia Tech massacre ended in 32 dead, Utah became <\/span>the first state<\/span><\/a> to pass a \u201ccampus carry\u201d law. Campus carry in the U.S. <\/span>means<\/span><\/a> the <\/span>possession of firearms on U.S. college or university campuses. Each state has its own discretion on laws concerning campus carry <\/span>law. <\/span><\/p>\n

The NRA-backed <\/span>Students for Concealed Carry<\/span><\/a> (SCC) was also established following the Virginia Tech massacre. The SCC is the most prominent advocate of campus carry legislation. The SCC had its <\/span>first legal victory<\/span><\/a> in March 2012 when the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that public universities could not ban concealed carry license holders from carrying their firearms on campuses. That case made way for more states to begin putting forward their own campus carry bills taking away the choice from public institutions. <\/span><\/p>\n

On Aug 1, 2016, the 50th anniversary of the Tower Shooting, Texas passed <\/span>Senate Bill 11<\/span><\/a> despite opposition from many school presidents, students, faculty, and gun control advocates. Texas <\/span>campus carry<\/span><\/a> law allows individuals over the age of 21 with a concealed handgun license to carry their weapons on campus in all of the state\u2019s 4-year public colleges and universities. With the exception of some campus facilities, such as sports arenas and chemical labs, students and faculty are allowed to be armed. A year later, on August 1, 2017, the law will apply to all of the state\u2019s 2-year and junior colleges and private institutions.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Texas bill\u2019s proponents believe that the knowledge of armed students and faculty will deter anyone with the intent to carry out an attack at a college campus, which will create a safer environment. <\/span>Other states<\/span><\/a> with campus carry laws are Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Mississippi, Oregon, Tennessee, Utah and Wisconsin. Minnesota\u2019s law is more narrow, allowing only visitors to carry guns.<\/span><\/p>\n

Georgia also recently joined the ranks of campus-carry states. After 5 years of consecutive failed attempts, <\/span>House Bill 280 was passed<\/span><\/a>. The law is set to go in effect in July 2017. Governor Nathan Deal vetoed a similar law in 2016, citing restriction clutter and enlightenment from Founding Fathers, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. Governor Deal referenced both men\u2019s attendance at a board meeting at the University of Virginia in 1824, where it was declared that no student should \u201ckeep or use weapons or arms of any kind.\u201d He attributes his change of heart to <\/span>safety concerns for students off campus. <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Current Campus Carry Laws<\/b><\/span><\/h5>\n

Campus carry laws in the U.S. can be divided into <\/span>3 categories<\/span><\/a>: mandatory, institutional and nonpermissive. <\/span><\/p>\n