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BY JESSICA ESTEPA | SAGEBRUSH (U. NEVADA-RENO)

In print | March 6, 2008

(U-WIRE) — With Northern Illinois University’s Feb. 14 shooting and the Virginia Tech shooting last spring on people’s minds, the debate on whether guns on campus would help make students safer continues.

“I see both sides,” said Jessica Richards, a 21-year-old art history major. “On one hand, people would be able to respond faster if something like a shooting were to happen on campus. At the same time, I don’t know how I feel knowing the guy sitting next to me in class is armed.”

Six state legislatures - Arizona, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and South Carolina - introduced bills this year that would allow people with concealed weapons permits to carry on public school and college campuses, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Three other legislatures - Alabama, Michigan and Tennessee - are looking at bills that would allow faculty and staff to carry concealed weapons on campus. Nevada isn’t among the states currently looking at the issue, but state senators and assemblymen agreed that campus safety would most likely come up in the Nevada legislature’s session next year.

Last October, Regent Stavros Anthony proposed arming faculty after they went through training to become reserve officers, but the Board of Regents voted against the proposal.

Anthony said he would not bring the proposal back, but hoped that safety measures were being considered.

“We need to be able to defend and ensure the safety of our students,” he said.

University of Nevada, Reno President Milton Glick said he wouldn’t support the measure if the legislature brought up the issue in its next session in support of allowing permit carriers to bring concealed weapons on campus.

“That doesn’t create a safer university,” Glick said. “In my opinion, no matter what security measures you take, if someone wants to carry a gun on campus and shoot others, then they will. Adding more guns to that won’t help the situation.”

UNR Police Chief Adam Garcia said the police department would also be against any proposals to allow permit carriers to carry guns on campus, though they would enforce the policy if it did become law. “Most police officers would rather respond to a shooting, not a shootout,” Garcia said.

One student group, Students for Concealed Carry on Campus (SCCC), has gained national attention in the debate. The group started a few days after the Virginia Tech shooting last year, which left 32 students and faculty dead. With more than 19,000 members in its Facebook group, the students in the group argue that concealed weapons would help in shooting situations because students are able to respond faster than police officers. The group does not have any chapters at Nevada colleges. Since the Nothern Illinois Shooting a few weeks ago, the group gained 8,000 members around the country, said Stephen Feltoon, SCCC’s Midwest regional director.

“What we’re trying to do is change state laws and school policies to allow people to carry concealed weapons on campus and enhance their own personal safety,” Feltoon said.

Feltoon pointed out that 12 colleges - all the public colleges and universities in Utah, Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colo. and Blue Ridge Community College in Weyers Cave, Va. - allow concealed weapons on campus and have not had any violent incidents on their campuses.

But Garcia said there are no statistics that prove guns prevent violence on campus or help in violent situations.

People for the idea argue that permit holders go through sufficient training, so they wouldn’t be endangering anyone.

In order to get a concealed weapon in Washoe County, a person must fill out an application with the sheriff’s office, be 21, take an eight-hour competency course, go through a background check and be fingerprinted, said Deputy Brooke Keiths of the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office. People applying for permits cannot be convicted felons, judicially declared incompetent or have any driving under the influence charges over the last five years, among other requirements.

“It’s ridiculous to say that these gun carriers would harm people,” said Robert Smith, president of the Nevada State Rifle and Pistol Association. “People who are carrying concealed weapons are some of the most trusted people.”

But others say that any guns on campus make them feel uncomfortable.

“I think it’s a very frightening idea,” said Kassi Stabler, a 21-year-old philosophy major. “With all the shootings that go on as it is, I don’t want to know that people actually have guns on top of that, on top of the worry of if someone just brings one.”

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