Free Republic

Despite opposition from student government leaders and top state education officials, a House committee Thursday took the first step toward allowing authorized concealed weapons on college campuses. Members of the Committee on the Administration of Criminal heard emotional arguments on both sides for three hours before voting 11-3 for House Bill 199 by Rep. Ernest Wooton, R-Belle Chasse, a former sheriff and the panel's chairman. The panel rejected an amendment to exempt private colleges from the bill. The measure heads to the House floor for debate. State law now bans guns from being carried onto college campuses as well as...

A representative from Students for Concealed Carry on Campus argued for a more sensible policy for carrying concealed handguns on college and university campuses at Walter Hall last night. “It’s hypocritical to say you can bring a gun into a 300-person movie theatre but not a 300-person lecture hall,” said Stephen Feltoon, Midwest regional director of SCCC. Feltoon, a 2007 graduate of Miami University of Ohio, spoke for a 40-person group as part of the SCCC’s weeklong protest of concealed carry laws across the nation that forbid concealed handguns on college campuses. The OU Second Amendment club — comprising about...

Some want right to carry gun at school The prospect of students carrying guns in backpacks wouldn't make Alan Gutierrez feel safer. The Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi police chief says that on the contrary, it could place his own force of 16 commissioned police officers in some precarious situations. "More weapons isn't necessarily a good thing," Gutierrez said. "It would be hard for law enforcement to differentiate between the good guys and the bad guys." Deadly weapons are prohibited at any educational institution in Texas -- carrying them on campuses is a third-degree felony. But a group of A&M-Corpus Christi...

Junior building construction major Ken Miller was walking in Newport News when he encountered two men. One walked behind him, the other stayed in front, and they were both swearing at him. "They were definitely acting aggressively," Miller said, adding that he believed they were about to attack him. But the men backed off after Miller let them know that he was armed. As a concealed carry permit holder, Miller was legally allowed to carry a firearm to protect himself against such an invasion. While he was legally permitted to carry a firearm in Newport News, he could be expelled...

Photo by Thad Allender. Kansas University junior Eric Stein displays a gun holster that he wore to class Monday. Stein, a member of the national Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, is participating in a week-long protest aimed at promoting concealed carry on college campuses. If Eric Stein gets his way, students at Kansas University would be allowed to bring concealed weapons to campus — so long as they have the proper state permit. Stein, a Topeka junior, is the president of the local chapter of Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, which has organized a nationwide “Empty Holsters”...

Last Monday, three colleges and four K-to-12 schools were shut down by threats of violence. This week over 25,000 college students at 300 chapters in 44 states belong to a group, Students for Concealed Carry on College Campuses, that will carry empty handgun holsters to protest their concerns about not being able to defend themselves. With the first anniversary of the Virginia Tech attack last week and the discussions that it created, we clearly have not been able to put that and other attacks behind us. There are good reasons why the safety measures adopted over the last year to...

I will be on The Lars Larson Show (LarsLarson.com) this afternoon at 3:30pm EST (12:30 on the left coast) and again separately on the national show at 8:30pm EST (5:30 Pacific) to discuss Students for Concealed Carry on Campus (ConcealedCampus.org), the Virginia Tech anniversary, and all other issues related to SCCC. Freepers are invited to listen, and welcome to call in. Here's a list of stations you can listen on. Upward and onward!

After the North Illinois University and Virginia Tech shootings, college students must not only worry about the rising cost of tuition or whether they failed their math tests, but also whether their campuses are safe. This need for safety has some people advocating permission to carry concealed weapons on campus, which is not permitted at the UA. Supporters argue that "carrying" could help stop shootings on campus before they escalate. If something were to happen and a person with a weapon was there, the aggravator could be stopped before he managed to do more harm, said Travis Robinson, member of...

In the wake of the recent killings in the Madison area, a student group advocating for the concealed carrying of weapons on campus has been gaining more attention. Bret Bostwick, campus leader of Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, said he first thought of starting a University of Wisconsin chapter of the group after the Virginia Tech shooting last year. After the shooting, he said he wondered whether the tragedy “could have played out any differently.” “We can’t say for sure that a concealed handgun license holder in one of those classrooms would have prevented the shooting, but we can...

THE 25,000-MEMBER ORGANIZATION STUDENTS FOR CONCEALED CARRY ON CAMPUS PREPARES FOR ITS SECOND NATIONAL COLLEGIATE EMPTY HOLSTER PROTEST (APRIL 21-25) During the week of April 21-25, 2008, thousands of college students throughout the United States, organized under the banner of Students for Concealed Carry on Campus (SCCC), will attend classes wearing empty holsters, in protest of state laws and school policies that stack the odds in favor of dangerous criminals and armed killers by disarming law abiding citizens licensed to carry concealed handguns virtually everywhere else. SCCC hosted its first national collegiate Empty Holster Protest during the week of October...

I will be on Liberty Roundtable with Sam Bushman tomorrow morning (Friday) at 9am EST for the whole hour to discuss Students for Concealed Carry on Campus. Listen LiveFreepers are welcome to call in with their questions or their support. You are welcome to identify yourself as a Freeper, but please do not identify me as such. I am not ashamed of my FR participation in the slightest, but I am appearing on behalf of SCCC, not FR. If you can't listen live, you are welcome to catch the repeat on the show's (mp3 archive). Coincidentally, tomorrow is also my...

Its been nearly a year since a gunman opened fire at Virginia Tech, Killing 32 people. The incident sparked a student movement to allow concealed weapons on campus. Now some UCCS students are joining that movement. State law allows those with concealed carry permits to bring guns on college campuses. However, the interpretation of the law has been that colleges can ban or allow weapons. Colorado State University in Fort Collins honors concealed carry permits, but the Regents to the University of Colorado do not allow weapons on any of its campuses. The university has added new security measures since...

They are crimes some say are becoming all too common: shootings on college campuses. Just Thursday in Texas police say a gunman shot 2 students near an off–campus dorm. Now, a new group popping up at schools across the country says it wants to take action and prevent these tragedies. The group is called "Students for Concealed Carry on Campus" or SCCC. You can find members at over 200 colleges, including the University of Nebraska and Hastings College. As their numbers continue to grow, they hope to convince state lawmakers that change is needed and that concealed weapons should be...

David Burnett Of Students For Concealed Carry On Campus On Paltalk Recent mass shootings on college campuses has raised the specter of the possibility of allowing students to arm themselves for protection. This controversial suggestion is being discounted by many as a knee jerk reaction by gun toting conservatives. But, an organization of college students, Students for Concealed Carry On Campus has taken off like wildfire. Joining us to talk about this new political movement on Wednesday March 19 is the SCCC's David Burnett, a student at the University of Kentucky. Students for Concealed Carry on Campus is a national,...

POLL: How Do You Feel About Guns on College Campuses? Increase Safety More Trouble

Dr. Ignatius Piazza, founder and director of the Front Sight Firearms Training Institute, has graciously donated this Front Sight course certificate to Students for Concealed Carry on Campus. This certificate has a retail value of $2,000 and is good for enrollment in any of the following courses: TWO DAY COURSES (two people may use one certificate when enrolling in the same Two Day Course together) Two Day Defensive Handgun Two Day Tactical Shotgun Two Day Practical Rifle FOUR DAY COURSES (one certificate per person, per course when enrolling in a Four Day Course) Four Day Defensive HandgunFour Day Tactical ShotgunFour...

Link Only: Panel endorses bill to let some bring guns to Arizona colleges

I will be on KDKA 1020 this evening at 8:30pm EST with Scott Paulsen and John Steigerwald to discuss Students for Concealed Carry on Campus. John tells me they air in 38 states, and if you follow the link above, you can always listen streaming.

Four months after Peter Hamm, spokesperson for The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, verbally attacked the college-based, grassroots organization Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, telling a Fox News reporter, "You don't like the fact that you can't have a gun on your college campus? Drop out of school," he is stepping up the rhetoric. Not content with encouraging college students to forgo their educations rather than fight for a cause in which they believe, Mr. Hamm has resorted to baseless conspiracy theories and slander. In a February 19, 2008, interview with Anna Hipsley of Australia’s ABC News radio,...

Thursday's massacre on the campus of Northern Illinois University was the seventh mass shooting in the U.S. in the past month. In the almost-10 months since the nation's worst school shooting killed 33 people at Virginia Tech, debate has grown over campus security and gun laws. Thought the majority of students and universities are pushing for tighter regulation, a vocal minority rejects the idea that tougher gun laws will make schools safer. Michael Guzeman, the leader of the Texas chapter of Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, joined "Good Morning America Weekend" Saturday to make the case for his organization....

Not even a year after the most horrific school shooting in this country's history, the debate has been brought back to college campuses. The debate as to whether students should be allowed to carry a concealed firearm into a college classroom has been a prevalent topic among special-interest groups, university administrators, lawmakers and students alike since that fateful April 16th morning in Blacksburg, Va. The heart of the debate focuses on whether allowing concealed weapons in a classroom setting can save lives if a catastrophe such as the one at Virginia Tech happens again. Since the tragedy, groups such as...

When students wear holsters on their belts next month, they will be protesting the law, not breaking it. It's part of the "Empty Holster Protest," organized by the Students for Concealed Carry on Campus (SCCC) chapter at UConn, which aims to call attention to the 'gun-free-zone' around campus. Chris Kopencey, a 3rd-semester political science major, and Andrew Dodson, a part-time student majoring in electrical engineering, have helped organize the protest to push for students already licensed in the state to be allowed to carry concealed weapons on campus. "Every school is a gun-free-zone, but it does not stop them [criminals]...

Rumsfeld Asked to Deny Funds to Seattle College NewsMax.com WiresTuesday, Feb. 15, 2005 DENVER - Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld should withhold federal funds from a Seattle college for its failure to ensure the safety of military recruiters who visited the campus last month, the Secretary was advised by a public interest law firm in a letter. According to news reports, military recruiters were forced to flee from Seattle Central Community College after being assaulted and battered by a student mob. Mountain States Legal Foundation advised Secretary Rumsfeld that the college's actions violated the Solomon Amendment, which requires...