Free Republic

I remember a few months ago when the guns-on-campus bill was introduced. I rejected it as nothing more than ludicrous Republican posturing. Apparently, I was wrong. In a 33-24 vote, Arizona passed SB 1467 — which allows guns to be carried on malls and streets that run through campus, but not in buildings. It now awaits Gov. Jan Brewer’s signature to become law. We are now the second state ever to pass legislation that allows guns on school campuses. Utah is the only other state with similar legislation. Has there been a sudden surge in gun-toting lunatics that I was...

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) The Texas Senate abruptly cut off debate Thursday as support weakened for a GOP-backed measure that would allow concealed handguns in college classrooms, but the bill's sponsor expressed confidence he could round up the necessary votes by early next week.

The latest attempt to expand gun owners’ rights in Arizona – by allowing them to carry their weapons on public college campuses – is now up to Gov. Jan Brewer. On Thursday, Senate Bill 1467, which had already cleared the Senate, passed in the House 33 to 24. It would allow people to carry their guns when walking or driving through campuses on public streets and sidewalks. The bill was narrowed from its original version, which would have allowed guns in campus buildings as well. Ever since the Virginia Tech massacre, advocates for allowing guns on campus have argued that...

FAIRFAX, Va. - To bear or not to bear arms? That is the question of the week at George Mason University. A group calling itself Students for Concealed Carry on Campus say this is "Gun Week" at George Mason. They are trying to call attention to their plight for the right to carry concealed weapons on the university property. Leading the charge is a former marine and current criminal justice major, Karolyn Galarza. "I have a concealed handgun permit for Virginia and I believe that I should be able to carry on campus because I have a concealed handgun permit,"...

The Senate State Affairs Committee is hearing HB 222 this morning, the guns-on-campus bill. Sponsor Erik Simpson, R-Idaho Falls, told the senators, “It is a basic human right to be able to protect yourself,” and said current law that permits Idaho colleges and universities to ban guns on campus creates “a false sense of security.” His bill would eliminate that ability for state colleges and universities, except in undergraduate residence halls. Joel Teuber of the Fraternal Order of Police, shown here answering questions from the committee, spoke in favor of the bill. He said, “I've heard that crime statistics at...

Faculty group opposes proposed weapons law, supporters cite self-defense The Nevada Legislature is looking at a bill that would allow students to carry guns and other concealed carry weapons on college campuses. Currently no one, including Nevada citizens who have concealed carry permits (CCWs), is allowed to bring firearms on university property without special permission from the university president, but S.B. 231 would make it legal to openly carry or conceal a firearm on UNLV’s campus without any permission at all. The bill was postponed after hours of discussion. Nevada university administrators are opposing the bill, which is sponsored by...

A bill that would take away the right of Idaho public universities and colleges to regulate their firearms policies has passed the Idaho State House of Representatives. House Bill 222, which Idaho House State Affairs Committee voted to introduce on March 10, now moves on to the Idaho Senate State Affairs Committee, and if passed there, will go on to the Idaho State Senate. HB 222 would make it legal to carry guns on campuses, openly or with a concealment permit. Public colleges and universities in Idaho would no longer be able to regulate their firearm policies, except in undergraduate...

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Jim Bryce still finds it tough to return to the University of Texas after 45 years. Standing across Guadalupe Street this week, he stared at the exact place a sniper shot his friend, Sandra Wilson. "There were pops. Pop, pop, pop,” Bryce said. “The bullet that hit her blew off her left tricep." Bryce had just gotten out of class and was on his way to meet Wilson at a cafe when another student, Charles Whitman, 25, opened fire from the UT Tower. "We started telling people who were walking up and down all the hallways 'Don't...

Carson City, NV (KTNV) - She survived a horrific attack at the hands of a serial rapist, but she's hoping her story will help change the law and keep others safe. Amanda Collins was one of the victims targeted in a string of attacks in and around the University of Nevada Reno campus. While her attacker, James Biela, has been sentenced to the death penalty, she still fears for others. Collins says it's time for state lawmakers to listen up and allow Nevada students to carry guns on college campuses. The young woman plans to take her message to Carson...

Houston, Tx --(Ammoland.com)- On Tuesday, March 22, SB 354 by Senator Jeff Wentworth (R-San Antonio) will be heard in Senate Criminal Justice Committee. SB 354 will stop colleges and universities from expelling student-CHLs for having their handgun on the property of their college or in their cars. It will also stop colleges and universities from terminating their faculty and staff for the same activity. SB 354 goes on to remove the criminal penalty and allow CHL students, faculty and staff to have this option of self-defense with them in the buildings. Colleges can regulate storage for resident students and sporting...

The right of JMU students to wield guns was the hot topic the week before spring break. "The issue on our campus is that anyone is allowed to bring a gun on campus, but it's illegal for a student or faculty member to carry a [concealed] gun," said Emily Buck, a senior and co-chair of College Republicans. She said she is concerned that the current law infringes on students' ability to defend themselves if someone were to come on campus with a firearm. Buck said that even if an area is gun-free, that doesn't at all mean it is safe....

When Robert Rosinski first held a gun during boot camp, he didn't feel completely comfortable. But after a four-year tour of duty in Iraq, Rosinski—a sophomore at the UA studying civil engineering—now thinks of guns as empowering tools for safety, not things to be feared. "They aren't evil dragons," said Rosinski, president and founder of Students for the Second Amendment. "They are hunks of metal that shoot bullets." More guns may soon be present on Arizona's college campuses, thanks to Republicans in the state Legislature. On Monday, March 14, the state Senate voted 21-7, along party lines, in favor of...

W. Scott Lewis, a student at Austin Community College, says he "just wants the means to defend himself" should a gunman open fire on his classroom. He advocates changing state law to allow licensed handguns on campuses. "This is about personal security, not campus security," said the 31-year-old handgun licensee. "This is about changing the odds." Just as adamant with the opposite view is John Woods , a doctoral student at the University of Texas at Austin who was a Virginia Tech student in April 2007 when a lone gunman shot down 32 people, including several of his close friends....

There is a new bill being proposed this legislative session that will lift a campus gun ban. It is the first of its kind in the state of Nevada and the thought of allowing people to carry their gun legally on college campuses has stirred up quite the controversy. This also isn't an issue just being discussed here; people from across the country have used social media to express their opinion. "The thought of students on campuses with guns just doesn't sit well with me," said Mark Cooley, student at the University of Nevada, Reno. He said he would feel...

America's gun-rights debate has moved into some new territory that highlights the ideological divide separating gun-hating Eastern elites from Americans in fly-over country. Recent events in New York City, Washington D.C., and in gun-friendly fly-over states (mostly red) demonstrate how profoundly the nation's Second Amendment debate is wrapped up with its culture wars. Consider how Americans on opposite sides of the liberal-conservative divide are viewing the gun-rights debates underway in at least nine state legislatures. According to Eastern elites, lawmakers are doing the unthinkable: They're debating whether to eliminate so-called "gun-free zones" on public college and university campuses; such zones...

An Idaho legislative committee voted yesterday 11-8 to move a measure that would allow college students and staff to carry firearms on college and university campuses, a proposal that could cause multiple coronaries down in Olympia. Neighboring Idaho is “gun country.” This column recently reported about a lawsuit filed by a student at the University of Idaho in Moscow, just across the border from Pullman and Washington State University. That lawsuit seeks to force the college to allow him to simply keep his firearm at an on-campus apartment. This new measure, sponsored by State Rep. Erik Simpson (R-Idaho Falls) is...

Let me first state, in no uncertain terms, that I love guns. I think guns are awesome. I own them, I use them, I like them. I think that the Second Amendment is great and I believe that you have the right to own a gun. Guns are cool. Go guns. That said, I hope that I never have to see a gun used at Purdue. There is no place for concealed weapons on a college campus. OK, let's back pedal. There has been a lot of talk and controversy about a piece of legislation going on in Texas which...

One thing Utah’s recent legislative sessions have made clear is that Utahns like their guns, and they like the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. That amendment, as ratified by the states, reads: “A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” Sounds simple, no? No. Utah’s Constitution is more explicit. According to Article 1, Section 6: “The individual right of the people to keep and bear arms for security and defense of self, family, others, property, or the state, as well...

arizonarifleman.com shares an email from “The Regents Professors (RPs) at the UofA, ASU, and NAU…” in response to the Arizona Legislature moving towards passing Campus Carry. (SB1467) “Gun Safety Charter: We affirm that no student should be obligated to be in the presence of an armed faculty or staff member, and no faculty or staff member should be obligated to be in the presence of an armed student on the university campuses of Arizona. In the event that SB 1467 is enacted into law, we request action by the Arizona Board of Regents to segregate the campuses into armed and...

PHOENIX – Along with the meaning of life and the origin of the universe, college students across the country have another existential question to ponder: the wisdom of allowing guns in class. In Arizona, known for its gun-friendly ways, state lawmakers are pushing three bills this year focused on arming professors and others over the age of 21 on Arizona campuses. Sponsors talk of how professors and students are now sitting ducks for the next deranged gunman to charge through the classroom door. Some gun rights advocates go so far as to say that grade school teachers ought to be...