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Legislation introduced to allow concealed weapons on campus

By on August 24, 2009 6:01 am in University / 55 comments

 
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Legislation introduced Thursday in the Michigan Senate would allow concealed weapon permit holders to carry a weapon on college campuses, including Central Michigan University, if approved.

“Students, faculty and visitors, who have permits and have undergone the proper training and background checks, should have the right to carry a concealed weapon for their protection while on campus,” said Sen. Randy Richardville, R-Monroe, in a press release.

Richardville, who sponsored the bill, said the right to carry a gun at universities is important because of recent violence on college campuses.

“Unfortunately, our nation has seen an increase in horrific shootings on college campuses in the last few years,” he said. “Those who receive the training and have been authorized to carry concealed weapons should be allowed to protect themselves against this type of violence.”

Kurt Mueller, the eastern regional director at Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, said the organization wants to grant licensed adults the right to carry a gun on college campuses. He said responsible gun owners do not pose a threat and would be able to help if there was an attack on a campus.

“Should an attack occur (on campus) anyway, the odds of someone being able to offer meaningful resistance improves dramatically if responsible adults are allows to carry concealed firearms,” Mueller said.

A good idea?

The idea to allow concealed weapon permit holders carry weapons on campus is making headway in Michigan.

Michigan State University’s Board of Trustees voted June 19 to allow concealed weapons on its campus, although weapons are not allowed inside buildings.

There are 40 states in the nation that have right-to-carry laws and 36 of those states require carry permits.

Mueller said 19 states leave the decision to carry concealed weapons up to schools and 30 states prohibit concealed carry on campus by statute.

Donald Dawkins, public information officer for the Michigan Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Bureau, said the federal government does not decide concealed weapons decisions.

“If Michigan changes (its laws), we would just enforce them,” Dawkins said.

Decisions on concealed weapons are decided by the individual states and counties who face the issue, he said.

Students’ reaction

New Jersey freshman Dan Suarez said he has not given much thought to bringing guns on campus at CMU because it has not really affected him.

He said he feels guns on campus are not a good idea.

“I don’t think there’s a need for weapons at all,” Suarez said.

Tara Grace Hanner, a Farwell junior, said guns on campus could cause issues.

“I’d be against it,” she said. “It makes it easier for problems to happen.”

Caledonia freshman Dan Barofsky said having guns on campus could lead to crime if someone stole the gun and used it for the wrong purposes.

In Michigan, guns also are not allowed in sports arenas and stadiums, hospitals, casinos, public and private day cares, bars, large entertainment facilities and religious buildings.

In order to apply to carry a concealed pistol in Michigan, the applicant must be at least 21 years old, a citizen of the United States and a Michigan resident for at least six months. The person also must complete a pistol safety training course and have not been convicted of a list of crimes including reckless driving and failure to stop after an accident.

 

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  • Brian

    Dan W- I would support high school teachers with a valid CPL, having obviously completed the training and background investigation, carrying a firearm to protect themselves and my child.

    Joe M- I think the Supreme Court decision you’re referring to was from United States vs. Lopez. “In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the Court of Appeals. It held that while Congress had broad lawmaking authority under the Commerce Clause, the power was limited, and did not extend so far from “commerce” as to authorize the regulation of the carrying of handguns, especially when there was no evidence that carrying them affected the economy on a massive scale.” Michigan’s gun free zones are Michigan’s alone and have not yet been tried or tested in the U.S. Supreme Court.

    Since you’re a numbers guy, let’s talk numbers:

    1999-In Pearl, Miss., assistant principal Joel Myrick stopped triple murderer Luke Woodham using a handgun from his car.

    1998-In Edinboro, Pa., the 14-year-old who killed a teacher at an off-campus dance was captured by shotgun-wielding James Strand.

    2002-At Virginia’s Appalachian School of Law, student Tracy Bridges used his pistol to detain murderer Peter Odighizuwa.

    Utah has permitted it since 1995. If you Google “Utah school shootings,” you will find exactly none. They have also had 0 incidents of firearms violations on campus.

    Researchers John Lott and William Landes, then at Yale and the University of Chicago, respectively, studied multiple victim public shootings. Data from 1976 to 1995 showed the number of shootings in states with concealed handgun laws declined by 84 percent, deaths plummeted by 90 percent and injuries by 82.5 percent.

    Also take a look over the 2007-2008 CPL report from the Michigan State Police at:
    http://www.michigan.gov/documents/msp/CPL_Annual_Report_2007-2008_269128_7.pdf

    Just remember when you add up all the assault category convictions and get the whopping number of 9 and the number of brandishing convictions of 0 that there are over 203,000 valid CPL holders in this state. Also keep in mind that the crimes and convictions are listed because they are CPL holders, not necessarily because they had anything to do with firearms.

    And let’s not forget the opinions of these guys:

    “A bill of rights is what the people are entitled to against every government on earth, general or particular,” he wrote, “and what no just government should refuse, or rest on inferences.” – Thomas Jefferson

    “It will be found an unwise and unjust jealousy to deprive a man of his natural liberty on the supposition he may abuse it” – George Washington

    I rephrase your question: Why should trained law abiding citizens have more restrictions on where they can carry their legal firearm than law abiding Police Officers? or Reserve Officers? Under current law a Reserve or Auxiliary Police officer (or member of a Sheriff’s posse for that matter) or retired Police Officer that has a valid CPL is exempt from gun free zones. I know many CPL holders that train more often and more thoroughly than police departments require.

  • Joe M.

    The first 50 comments in response to this article seem to be missing, which is unfortunate, because the conversation was fun and lively.

    Dan W– Though you make arguments that are more lucid than most others, you’re still confusing causation and correlation when you quote crime statistics.

    Mark Twain said that there were three types of dishonesty: lies, damned lies, and statistics. At least three people in this discussion have pointed to dropping crime rates and attributed the fall to the expansion of concealed carry.

    Crime has fallen rapidly and dramatically, everywhere, and for a few simple reasons: 1.) Reagan locked up a *lot* of criminals for a very long time, so they’re no longer on the streets 2.) Clinton put a *lot* more cops on the street 3.) access to safe abortion has dramatically reduced the number of unwanted pregnancies, resulting in far fewer uncared-for children, the type who grow up to committ gun crimes. Noted economist Steven Levitt has actually pointed to the third factor as his best explanation for the drop in crime (and he’s also proven that guns are far less dangerous than swimming pools, just so you don’t think I’m cherry-picking liberal economists here).

    How do you explain a 45 percent drop in violent crime and a 62 percent drop in the murder rate in D.C., then? Handguns were outlawed in D.C. until recently. While they were prohibited, along with assault rifles, the murder rate plummetted.

    It’s easy to manipulate numbers and I’ll acknowledge that in the example I gave above I pulled statistics from legitimate sources but used them unfairly. It’s also dishonest to attribute the nationwide drop in crime to a handful of states allowing easier access to CPLs.

    And you’re seriously going to use Utah as an example with a straight face? Of course Utah has almost no school shootings, they’ve got virtually no homicide at all, anywhere. You know what’s interesting, though? If you chart the numbers I used for D.C. homicide and chart the Utah homicides, they match perfectly. Both peak in 1995 and drop by 50 percent or more by 2008. Exactly the same. Yet you claim that the prohibition of carry permits has impacted crime to the exclusivity of any other factors. Explain to me how D.C. and Utah have had identical drops in murder when their gun laws are so radically different.

    All of that aside, I’ve got no problem with concealed weapons permits most places. But there are times and places it doesn’t make sense to allow guns. Schools are one of them. Because schools are safe. 328 deaths over ten years at all levels of education indicate that there is no need for anyone to be carrying a gun around for protection on schoolgrounds. In fact, I urge you to find me another location (aside perhaps from churches) as safe as our schools.

  • Joe M.

    Dan W– I missed your question about high school teachers because I couldn’t find the “older comments” link until just now.

    To answer it: No. I don’t think it’s necessary because of the very, very low rate of school shootings.

  • mike dee

    I think carrying guns should be totally allowed anywhere you are at in the USA; but with a couple stipulations. Anyone who is carrying a gun has to wear a ten gallon hat, cowboy boots and spurs and all the guns shall be six shooters and carried in holsters like the old west. This way everyone is on even ground. There will be no doubt that he is carrying. And of course there should be swift justice for violators; like hanging in the local plaza outside of the courthouse and jail.

  • Chris

    I am medically retired from the Army and have recently returned to college life at Central Michigan University…I have a concealed handgun permit but am unable to carry on campus due to current gun-free zone restrictions…I carry for self-protection and for that of my family and friends when we are out in public.

    A few years ago in Tacoma, Washington a man walked into his ex-girlfriends place of employment and shot her dead…a retail mall that my family and I visited often…weeks before, an armored car was held up in front of a Wal-mart as the guards were picking up their deposits…turns out one of the managers had conspired to rob the armored car with her brother and a friend of his…one guard was shot in the head and died instantly while many innocent civilians ran for their lives…

    My point is…we never know when or where an attack might occur, but we are obviously aware that college campuses, as well as high schools and other public facilites, across the country are falling victim to these types of assaults…if law-abiding citizens, students, and faculty are qualified to carry concealed firearms on campus then we at least have a fighting chance to survive and defend the lives of others…and I’m sure I’m not alone in saying this, but 99% of the people I attend class with would never know that I was armed unless an attack were to occur…concealed carry on college campuses is a great idea and should be adopted as policy…God Bless !

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