11 States Allow Concealed Carry on Campus

A college campus is the perfect target for a criminal looking to kill as many people as possible. 

Just think about it: anyone can walk onto a college campus. The diversity among students and faculty means almost anyone can blend in. 

Students commonly gather in large groups for classes and events, making it even easier for criminals to kill lots of people at once. And the best part? The criminal is the only one carrying a weapon because even licensed gun owners aren’t permitted to carry firearms on most campus. 

—

This summer, Kansas and Georgia passed laws allowing gun owners over the age of 21 to carry concealed firearms on public campuses. Kansas is a “constitutional carry” state, meaning that no permit or training is necessary. 

Liberal professors were quick to claim that the “campus carry” law would increase violence in schools, drive foreign students away, and prevent free discourse. None of these things happened.  

“All was quiet on the nearly 60 university and community college campuses across the Sunflower State this past semester,” writes Kris Kobach, a former law professor at the University of Missouri in Kansas City. “More importantly, thousands of students were safer walking alone at night – including those who weren’t carrying. Would-be attackers were deterred by the possibility that their intended victims might be armed.”

It has been 10 years since a lone shooter killed 32 students and faculty at Virginia Tech. Since then, 11 states have passed campus carry legislation. Another 23 states leave the decision up to individual schools, and 17 states have outright bans.  

States that allow campus carry are Colorado, Kansas, Arkansas, Idaho, Georgia, Oregon, Mississippi, Utah, Texas, and Wisconsin. In Tennessee, faculty members are allowed to carry but students are not. 

Many argued that the mere presence of guns on campus would lead to homicides, shootings, and suicides, but there has yet to be a single negative incident in any of these states associated with concealed carry on campus.  

As Kobach puts it, the concealed carry project earns an A+. “As for the professors and their lame arguments, they earn an F. Their weak, biased reasoning speaks volumes about the poor quality of teaching in many college classrooms. But at least those classrooms are safer now.” 

—

Kris Kobach is currently the elected Secretary of Kansas and serves as Vice Chair of the Presidential Commission on Election Integrity.