Examination of Allowing Firearms on Campus

As a 42 year old undergraduate, I seem to have more in common with my professors than my fellow students. I have experienced how life experiences can change our views of the world. Over the years, I have gone from a complete anti-gun philosophy to being a gun owner with a concealed carry permit. Though I strongly believe in Second Amendment rights, I wonder if and when there are certain times and places that guns should not be allowed. At this point, there are places where guns are banned by law: primary and secondary schools, federal property, and courthouses. This makes sense since the first place is populated primarily by children and the latter two are places where tempers regularly flare; but what about college campuses? There is no law in the Commonwealth of Kentucky banning gun on college campuses. The decision to allow or not allow firearms is up to each individual school. Is there are place for guns on campus and, if so, what is their place? The decision on whether or not to allow guns on campus is an attempt to find the balance between the safety, comfort and constitutional rights of those that are on campus every day: the students, faculty, and employees. I will discuss the arguments of each aspect of this balance and how they relate to the University of Kentucky.

I would like to start out by saying that college campuses are considered one of the safest environments for young adults. That being said, US News and World Reports, which annually compares colleges and universities across the country, explains why college campuses cannot be judged by their reported crime rates.

“It's not currently possible to compare the relative levels of campus safety among colleges for a number of key reasons. First, many experts believe that campus crime is significantly underreported by many colleges. In addition, comparing campus crime stats is problematic because there are too many variables, such as campus size, location (big city versus small town), number of students and campus security measures including the number of police, among others, for such comparisons to be fair or accurate.” (Moris)

For the sake of making this discussion as accurate as possible, I will be comparing violent crime statistics for the University of Kentucky and Fayette County, Kentucky. Violent crime includes murder, assault, forcible sexual offenses, and robbery. According to the United States Department of Education, between 2011 and 2013, nineteen forcible sexual offenses were reported on the University of Kentucky campus. Interestingly, thirteen of these occurred in 2013. During the same time period, there were also nine robberies and twenty aggravated assaults. These numbers are the reported number and not the number of convictions. In 2013, UK’s enrollment reached 29,000 students. (Blackford) Based on this number the violent crime rate on campus in 2013 was less than .09%. The violent crime rate for Fayette County was 1.6%. (Kentucky State Police) A violent crime rate of less than one tenth of one percent seems incredibly low; that is, unless you are one of those victims. In that case, the percentage is 100%.

But would a firearm have prevented any of these crimes? That’s a difficult question to answer. It is statistically impossible to calculate the number of crimes prevented because the potential victim was armed. That would be like trying to figure out how many car accidents were prevented by quick reflexes. However, thanks to a handful of small towns that have passed mandatory gun-ownership laws, we can look at how the crime rate can change just based on the increased possibility that a potential victim may be armed. One such town is Kennesaw, Ga. In 1982, the small town passed the law primarily as a response to an anti-gun ownership law passed in an Illinois town and secondly as a deterrent for potential criminals. After Kennesaw passed their law, crime rates decreased by 89%. Since then, the town has grown by six-fold but the crime rate continues to be significantly lower than the state average. In light of these lower crime rates, other small communities are following suit and hoping for the same results. (Copeland) The extreme approach Kennesaw’s city council took wouldn’t work on most college campuses but we can see that potential armed victims is a deterrent for criminals.

One of the arguments against allowing firearms on campus is that guns will actually make campus more dangerous. I had difficulty finding data to support this statement. In fact, I found several examples that supported the opposite. Take the University of Colorado and Colorado State University as examples. In 2003, Colorado passed a concealed carry law. The University of Colorado decided to continue its ban on firearms while Colorado State made the decision to allow concealed firearms. Afterwards, the crime rate at the University of Colorado increased by 35% while crime at Colorado State decreased by 60%. (Cramer, 17) Evidence would indicate that firearms do act as a deterrent thus decreasing crime rates in communities whether a town or college campus.

Comfort level actually expresses itself on two levels. The comfort of the person with the firearm and the comfort of the people around them. Let’s start with the gun owner. Kentucky is an open carry state. This means that anyone that can legally own a firearm may wear it in plain sight anywhere firearms are legally allowed. No training is required to open carry. However, Kentucky also allows concealed carry. In order to obtain a concealed carry permit, a person must attend training and be tested over gun laws and gun use. They must pass a shooting proficiency test and a thorough background check. Students for Concealed Carry maintains that a person with a concealed carry permit is five times less likely to use their weapon than someone without a permit. This reinforces that there is a need for training for new gun owners. Accidents happen more often when gun handlers are inexperienced or treat firearms as a novelty item instead of treating them with the respect they need. The more aware a person is of the law and of the damage a weapon can inflict, the more likely they will use firearms more wisely.

The comfort level of the people around gun carriers also comes down to education. People tend to fear what they don’t understand. A person must be 18 to purchase a firearm in the Kentucky and 21 to obtain a concealed carry permit. Since a huge majority of students over 21, most permit holders would either be faculty and staff or older students who no longer live in campus housing. I believe that part of the responsibility of gun ownership is respecting those around you. Guns should not casually be flaunted or presented in a threatening way. In the case of concealed carry, if done correctly, bystanders should not be unnerved because they would never know someone is armed.

The United State Constitution states in the Second Amendments that “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” So can universities legal]y ban firearms? Several court cases have debated this question including one involving the University of Kentucky. On April 26, 2012, the Supreme Court of Kentucky decided the case of Mitchell v. University of Kentucky. Michael Mitchell was an employee and graduate student at UK with a concealed carry permit. Through a series of events, it was revealed that Mitchell had a firearm in the glove compartment of his vehicle that was parked on UK property. Being in violation of the university firearm policy, Mitchell’s employment was terminated. Mitchell filed suit siting public policy and his Second Amendment rights. The court ruled in Mitchell’s favor, stating that though Kentucky Revised Statutes allow colleges and universities to establish weapons policies, KRS 527.020(8) states “No person or organization, public or private, shall prohibit a person from keeping a firearm or ammunition, or both, or other deadly weapon in a glove compartment of a vehicle.” The court maintained that their decision did not change a university’s ability to control their weapons policies. In their rebuttal, UK stated that they did not agree with the decision based on the fact that Mitchell was not required to park on campus thus avoiding the possibility of violating university policy.

The balance between the safety, comfort and constitutional rights of those that are on campus every day appears to come from responsible gun ownership combined with education and training. Allowing concealed carry on campus would best fit this balancing act. From a safety standpoint, the idea that students may be armed would act as a deterrent to potential violent crimes. The concealed aspect would not only make sure legal gun carriers had received training and the firearms would not serve as a distraction to others as the weapons would not be in view. Finally, faculty and students would be able to exercise their Second Amendment rights without fear of disciplinary action. The best case scenario would be that a firearm would never be fired on campus in self-defense. The worst case could be the firing of a weapon to stop an assailant and possibly saving other lives.

Works Cited

Blackford, Linda B. “University of Kentucky Enrollment Tops 29,000 for First Time.” Kentucky.com. McClatchy Company. 10 Sept 2013. Web. 28 Apr 2015.

Commonwealth of Kentucky. Dept. of Justice. Kentucky State Police. “2013 Crime in Kentucky.” Kentuckystatepolice.org. Kentucky State Police. 2014. Web. 1 May 2015.

Copeland, Larry. “Georgia Town Not Alone in Using Gun Law as “Deterrent”’. USAToday.com. Gannett Satellite Information Network. 2013 Apr. 2. Web. 4 May 2015.

Cramer, Clayton E., and Davis Burnett. “Tough Targets: When Criminals Face Armed Resistance from Citizens.” Cato Institute. 2012. Print.

Mitchell v. University of Kentucky. 2010-SC-000762-TG, 2010-CA-002119-MA. Supreme Court of Kentucky. 2012. Findlaw.com. Thomson Reuters. 2015. Web. 22 Apr. 2015

Morse, Robert, and Diane Tolis. “U.S. News Publishes College Crime Statistics, Loan Default Data.” USNews.com. U.S. News & World Reports, LP. 9 Sept. 2014. Web. 28 Apr 2015.

Students for Concealed Carry. “Common Arguments Against Campus Carry.” ConcealedCampus.org. Students for Concealed Carry. 2011-2012. Web. 22 Apr. 2015.

United States. Dept. of Education. Office of Postsecondary Education. “The Campus Safety and Security Data Analysis Cutting Tool.” Office of Postsecondary Education. Dept. of Education, N.A. Web. 1 May 2015.