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Fear has stricken the hearts of some on our fair campus. I’m talking about those against the idea of concealed handguns on college campuses in Texas. There is an impression that if students are allowed to carry them, then our campus will turn into the wild west with showdowns and shoot-outs around every corner. This is dumb to say the least. You have to be at least 21 years old to get a concealed handgun license. That’s going to prohibit several students right off the bat. Texas already has a concealed handgun law. Consider this, when you go to the...

The Senate bill to allow anyone with a concealed-weapon permit to carry a gun on campus advanced through the Senate Rules Committee this week. University presidents and the Arizona Board of Regents oppose SB 1467. TW intern Jazmine Woodbury tells The Range: UA President Robert Shelton doesn’t want to see guns on campus. “I get my information from UAPD (the University Of Arizona Police Department), TPD (Tucson Police Department) and talking with colleges around the country,” said Shelton. “All of them, to a person, man, woman or child, say this bill, this opportunity to carry firearms on campus would create...

A few hundred yards from where I’m writing this column, just across the river in Vermont, 16-year-olds are allowed to purchase and carry a loaded handgun without needing anyone’s permission. Here in New Hampshire, an 18-year-old can openly carry a pistol without a concealed carry permit. Dartmouth’s campus, with its strict ban on privately-owned handguns, stands out amidst these “wild” lands of gun-toting teenagers. Before you start worrying about your next trip into downtown Hanover, however, consider that in 2009 there was just one handgun murder in New Hampshire and zero in Vermont. New Hampshire, which last year was named...

The Florida legislature’s warning shot regarding a bill that would allow guns on college campuses has caused a commotion at UF. The University Police Department and Student Government have voiced concerns about a bill proposed in the Florida Senate that would allow those with concealed weapons permits to carry their guns on campus. The intent of the legislation is to protect students from dangerous situations by allowing them to carry guns for self-defense. Currently, no one — with the exception of police officers — is allowed to carry guns on college campuses in Florida. Students are not even permitted to...

A team of Texas A&M students will be heading to Austin to lobby state legislatures to support the concealed carry on campus bill on behalf of Students for Concealed Carry on Campus. The group has yet to determine a date of departure. Though Senate Bill 354 was rejected in 2009 by state legislatures, the issue is being readdressed. One of the primary authors is Republican Sen. Jeff Wentworth of San Antonio, who said those who carry concealed handguns on campus would hinder a shooter from acting. The officers of the group said arming students and staff would make campus safer....

What was once the subject matter of fiction is now ingrained in the minds of many as concrete history. Campus shootings and violence have become a genuine concern in the lives of students, faculty and citizens across our nation today. Only several weeks into the new year, this nightmare has already become brutal reality for various Ohio college campuses. Over the course of two months, southweastern Ohio's Wright State University has been the target of several armed robberies and assaults. A number of incidents have occurred between campus and its neighboring off-campus housing, while others have taken place on the...

Lubbock State Representative John Frullo is signing onto several new bills in the Texas House, regarding Second Amendment and right to life issues. The first would allow concealed handgun licensed holders to store guns in their vehicles in their employers' parking lots. The second would allow concealed carry on campus for licensed holders. The third would allow guns at school board meetings, again, for licensed holders. Frullo says in a statement, "Our country was founded with the Constitutional right to bear arms, and I fully intend to uphold that." Frullo also joins several other representatives in proposing what is often...

After weeks of confusion, the rules regarding firearms on campus might have been settled once and for all. On Thursday, Rep. Curtis Oda, R-Clearfield introduced a House Bill 75, which would clarify that it is legal to openly carry a firearm on a state college campus. Oda spoke with U President Michael Young, and they came to an understanding that the U cannot ban open carry or regulate any other state firearm laws. Oda has since removed the language from the bill, deeming it unnecessary. "There should be some room for authority allowing a university campus to enforce its own...

In light of the horrific tragedy that occurred this month in Tucson, many people across the nation expected gun restriction debates to catch fire. Quite unexpectedly in Arizona, however, the opposite has happened. Republicans have continued to surge forward in their Second Amendment rights legislation. According to The Huffington Post, the Tucson shooting did next to nothing to halt legislation that would continue to make firearms available to the general public. What is even more surprising is that the GOP is beginning to make moves to allow students at college campuses across the state to legally carry concealed weapons. Before...

A Pacific Northwest college student filed a lawsuit this morning seeking to force school authorities to let him keep a firearm in his on-campus apartment, a case that could have significant ramifications for college campuses all over the landscape, including the University of Washington. Rick Walker, the Olympia-based western regional director of Students for Concealed Carry on Campus (SCCC) confirmed to this column that his group has been “working on this.” Aaron Tribble, described as a second-year law student at the University of Idaho, filed the lawsuit in Latah County District Court, according to the Moscow-Pullman Daily News and SCCC’s...

Josh Loftin's article on January 6 headlined "Two U of U officers put on leave over gun policy release" covers a current controversy about carrying firearms openly on the University campus. But Mr. Loftin's thesis is eclipsed by a more sinister issue. President Young's memorandum to his police appears to have been private, that is, the police had their directive, but the policy was not announced. Let me see if I understand how the policy would affect a student who carries a gun. Our student doesn't know about President Young's memorandum, so he doesn't know the rule; in his concealed...

Savannah-Chatham Public Schools officials have reluctantly weakened their weapons policy in order to comply with a new Georgia law allowing gun owners to store guns in cars parked on school property. "It's scary, but it's state law," said David Fields, chief executive officer of the Savannah-Chatham Public School System. Employees of the state who are licensed gun owners can now store guns in privately owned vehicles they park on their employer's premises, as long as the weapon is locked in an enclosed compartment and out of sight, according to Georgia Code 16-11-135. But the law doesn't just open the door...

The Arizona shooting has emboldened pro-gun groups that plan to lobby politicians for proposed laws that could expand the right to carry concealed weapons on the state's college campuses. At least two bills are on the table in Arizona, which resumed its legislative session this week. One would allow faculty members to carry concealed weapons on campus. The other would prevent colleges from stopping people with a valid permit, including students, from carrying them on campus. Last weekend's shooting, which left six dead and injured 14 others, including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, has bolstered a belief among many gun advocates that...

“Dialog on campus guns helps clear up perceptions,” this column reported in December, reproducing emails between Kilgore [TX] College President Bill Holda and Jack Burch, CEO of Hill Country Shooting Sports Center. Burch had taken the initiative to contact Dr. Holda after the media had quoted him opposing campus concealed carry reforms using the Luby’s Cafeteria massacre as one of his reasons: Dr. Holda recently angered both survivors of the shooting and concealed carry advocates by claiming that some of the victims of the massacre (which became a rallying cry for supporters of lawful self-defense) actually shot each other. Rather...

Is concealed carry legal on college campuses in Arkansas for students? The gun rights group Arkansas Carry raised that question yesterday, stirring up a hornet nest (video is here). However, a clear answer is still lacking. I wrote about this subject last summer, where I pointed out an Attorney General opinion by then-AG Mike Beebe stated concealed carry is legal, as long as the permit-holder did not enter campus buildings or events. After further investigation, however, I found all colleges and universities in Arkansas forbid the possession and carry of any firearm. These adult student policies are in direct conflict...

LITTLE ROCK — A gun rights group behind legislation to allow concealed weapon permit holders to carry a gun openly likely will ask lawmakers to specifically authorize permit holders to carry a gun on a college campus, its chairman said today. Steve D. Jones, chairman of Arkansas Carry, made the comment to the Arkansas News Bureau after being told by the director of the state Department of Higher Education that a 2003 attorney general’s opinion said colleges and universities could legally ban all concealed weapons from their campuses as long as signs are posted. Jones said he believes the opinion...

PHOENIX - Saying everyone but criminals will be safer, a veteran legislator wants to let qualified faculty carry guns on university and community college campuses. Sen. Jack Harper, R-Surprise, said Wednesday that there have been instances of someone with a grudge coming onto a campus, going into a classroom and starting to shoot. He said the current prohibition against weapons on campus - one that the criminal has ignored - leaves the teacher and student defenseless. But Harper isn't stopping with arming the faculty. He is crafting a separate measure to allow students with certain training to also arm themselves....

Last night a Georgia Tech student was robbed in his dormitory room by four men wearing masks. At least one of the robbers was armed with a handgun. The university sent a message to campus students advising them on safety, with such helpful tidbits as: Additional Safety Information for Georgia Tech -Walk in well lit areas. To report inoperative exterior campus lighting, visit: www.facilities.gatech.edu/om/lighting-form.php . -Walk with a friend or in a group. -Be alert of your surroundings. -Immediately report suspicious activity to the Georgia Tech Police by calling 404-894-2500. Program the Georgia Tech Police Department's phone number into your...

DENVER (AP) - A group that opposes guns on campus filed an argument with the Colorado Supreme Court urging the justices to dismiss a lawsuit that seeks to give students the right to carry firearms at colleges. The Washington, D.C.-based Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence said in a brief filed Monday that the Court should "protect students and faculty from the severe risks posed by guns." In April, the Colorado Court of Appeals ruled in favor of a gun-rights group that sued the University of Colorado. The group argued that the university's 1994 policy banning concealed weapons violates state...

“Dr. Bill Holda, president of Kilgore College in Kilgore, TX, will have to do some fast backpedaling if he’s to have any hope of outrunning his recent comments about the 1991 massacre at a Luby’s Cafeteria in Killeen, TX—the second deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, surpassed only by the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre,” the email from Students for Concealed Carry on Campus began. Dr. Holda recently angered both survivors of the shooting and concealed carry advocates by claiming that some of the victims of the massacre (which became a rallying cry for supporters of lawful self-defense) actually shot each...