Order 1062932: Guns on Campus

Guns on Campus: Overview

2/23/2015 http://www.ncsl.org/research/education/guns-on-campus-overview.aspx

In the wake of several campus shootings, the most deadly being the 2007 shooting at Virginia

Tech University, states are considering legislation about whether or not to permit guns on college

campuses. For some, these events point to a need to ease existing firearm regulations and allow

concealed weapons on campuses. Others see the solution in tightening restrictions to keep guns

off campuses.

In 2013, at least 19 states introduced legislation to allow concealed carry on campus in some

regard and in the 2014 legislative session, at least 14 states introduced similar legislation. In

2013, two bills passed, one in Kansas that allows concelaed carry generally and one in Arkansas

that allows faculty to carry. The Kansas legislation creates a provision that colleges and

universities cannot prohibit concealed carry unless a building has "adequate security measures,"

however, governing boards of the institutions may still request an exemption to prohibit for up to

4 years. Arkansas' bill allows faculty to carry, unless the governing board adopts a policy that

expressly disallows faculty to carry. In 2014, Idaho became the most recent state to allow

concealed carry weapons on college campuses.

On the other hand, recent shootings also have encouraged some legislators to strengthen existing

firearm regulations. In 2013, 5 states introduced legislation to prohibit concealed carry weapons

on campus. None of these bills passed.

Concealed Carry Weapon Laws and College Campuses

In the United States, all 50 states allow citizens to carry concealed weapons if they meet certain

state requirements. Currently, there are 20 states that ban carrying a concealed weapon on a

college campus: California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan,

Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North

Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Wyoming.

In 23 states the decision to ban or allow concealed carry weapons on campuses is made by each

college or university individually: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware,

Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire,

Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and

West Virginia.

Due to recent state legislation and court rulings, 7 states now have provisions allowing the

carrying of concealed weapons on public postsecondary campuses. These states are Colorado,

Idaho, Kansas, Mississippi, Oregon, Utah, and Wisconsin. In March 2014, Idaho's legislature

passed a bill premitting concealed weapons on campus and making it the 7th state to permit guns

on campus.

Utah remains the only state to have statute specifically naming public colleges and universities as

public entities that do not have the authority to ban concealed carry, and thus, all 10 public

institutions in Utah allow concealed weapons on their property. Recently passed Kansas

legislation creates a provision that colleges and universities cannot prohibit concealed carry

unless a building has "adequate security measures," however, governing boards of the

institutions may still request an exemption to prohibit for up to four years. Wisconsin legislation

creates a provision that colleges and universities must allow concealed carry on campus grounds,

however, campuses can prohibit weapons from campus buildings if signs are posted at every

entrance explicitly stating that weapons are prohibited. All University of Wisconsin system

campuses and technical community college districts are said to be putting this signage in

place. Legislation passed in Mississippi in 2011 creates an exception to allow concealed carry on

college campuses for those who have taken a voluntary course on safe handling and use of

firearms by a certified instructor.

Recent court cases have also overturned some long standing system wide bans of concealed carry

on state college and university campuses. In March 2012, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled

that the University of Colorado’s policy banning guns from campus violates the state’s concealed

carry law, and in 2011 the Oregon Court of Appeals overturned the Oregon University System’s

ban of guns on campuses, allowing those with permits to carry concealed guns on the grounds of

these public colleges (Oregon's State Board of Higher Education retained its authority to have

internal policies for certain areas of campus, and adopted a new policy in 2012 that bans guns in

campus buildings). In both cases, it was ruled that state law dictates only the legislature can

regulate the use, sale and possession of firearms, and therefore these systems had overstepped

their authority in issuing the bans. See the "Guns on Campus: Campus Action," page for more

information on these rulings, board policies and other campuses that allow concealed carry on

their grounds.

For up-to-date information on legislation, see the Education Bill Tracking Database. Search

under the topic "Postsecondary - Campus Safety."

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Article Citation:

"Guns on Campus: Overview." National Council of State Legislatures. 23 Feb. 2015. Web. 9

July 2015.