SGA voted Thursday against supporting the Safe Carry Protection Act, House Bill 512 ,which allows students to carry a concealed firearm on university campuses.
The bill also reforms many laws and restrictions including concealed carrying in bars, public schools while attempting to prevent the National Guard or police from disarming people during states of emergency.
A chapter of Students for Concealed Carry was officially granted Registered Student Organization (RSO) status by the Students Activities Budget Advisory Committee in early February.
The change preceded the Georgia House of Representatives approval of House Bill 512.
KSU joined Columbus State University and Georgia Tech as the third school in the state to have an official chapter recognized by the school.
“It’s definitely nice, because now we are able to promote our organization more,” said RSO president Luke Crawford. “I’ve probably gotten over 150 individual emails from different people that are all interested in the organization.”
“There are a ton of misconceptions about guns,” said Crawford. “I think if anybody is going to carry a gun, they need to do it safely . . . If you never break any of your major rules
of gun safety, it is almost impossible for somebody to get unintentionally hurt.”
On Thursday, Mar. 14, during the SGA general meeting, President Rosalyn Hedgepeth announced that she joined other university SGA presidents in writing a letter to members of the Georgia State Senate, asking them to oppose the bill.
“One of the biggest obstacles we’re facing is the president of the Student Government Association,” Crawford said. “She signed her name to a letter stating that the student body did not support House Bill 521.” Crawford said that lots of people on campus support the bill and don’t appreciate being spoken for without so much as a poll or a vote.
Shooting the wrong person always seems to be a concern says Crawford. “If I was carrying a gun, I would not go dashing in there to try and find the gunman; that is the police’s job.”
“I think it is entirely appropriate for KSU to support any group that wants to organize on campus around an idea,” Dr. Kenneth White said. “But arming students or teachers is a stupid idea to me. It would be like arming surgeons – totally unrelated to the purpose of the thing.”
To find out more about HB 512, visit www.legis.ga.gov. To find out more about KSU Students for Concealed Carry, visit their Facebook page at facebook.com/ksuscc.