Although numerous states currently ban guns on campus, perpetual legislative efforts are pushing the country in the opposite direction, according to a new policy analysis released Tuesday.
“The pivot toward allowing guns on campuses across many states has been made without sufficient evidence to answer a critically important question: Will concealed carry laws make members of the campus community safer?” argue the authors of the report, titled “Guns on Campus: The Architecture and Momentum of State Policy Action.”
“The possible negative, unintended consequences of allowing individuals to carry firearms on campus deserve careful consideration,” the authors continue in the report, jointly issued by the Education Commission of the States and the Research and Policy Institute at NASPA Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education.
The report shows states are going in the right direction “in the sense that most of the (campus carry) bills are failing,” said Thomas L. Harnisch, director of State Relations and Policy Analysis at the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, which opposes campus carry.
“It’s just that the problem is every year it seems like one or two states are allowing guns on campus, which is something that is opposed,” Harnisch lamented, citing statistics that show most college and university presidents and students don’t want guns on campus.
A recent Gallup poll, however, found that 56 percent of Americans believe that more concealed weapons would make the country safer.
Currently 21 states prohibit guns on campus—19 through legislation and two at the systemwide level—and nine states allow guns on campus—seven through legislation and two through court rulings.
