Just a few weeks ago I wrote this story, about lawmakers in Texas considering a bill that would allow students and faculty to carry concealed weapons on university and college campuses. I wrote that Texas would be only the second state to adopt such legislation, behind Utah. Well, it looks like Oklahoma is giving Texas a run for the number two spot.
According to this article, the Oklahoma measure was narrowly approved by a state House committee yesterday (9-8) and is on its way to the House floor. But, similar to the legislation in Texas, many educational advocates and university administrators oppose the legislation:
"This is not a good idea," said Roger Webb, president of the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond and the state's former commissioner of public safety. Webb said the presence of guns on college campuses will create unsafe conditions for students and faculty and that campus security should be the responsibility of trained law enforcement officers.
But the bill's author, Rep. Randy Terrill, said the measure would provide a way for college professors and administrators to protect themselves and others during campus violence like the mass shootings in 2007 at Virginia Tech and 2008 at Northern Illinois, according to the article.
Even if this bill passes, university and colleges will still be able to ban handguns on campus.
Do you think allowing faculty to carry concealed weapons will help keep students safe or does such a law increase the chance of more gun-related incidents happening on campus?
