President Papp announced in a press release March 3 that he supports Chancellor Hank Huckaby’s stance on HB 859, in that he does not agree with allowing college students carry on campus.
“Prohibiting firearms on our campuses ensures safer learning and working environments for our students, faculty and staff, and mitigates the risks that firearms present for our campus police officers,” Papp said.
Huckaby’s stance indicated that college campus police forces undergo the same training as local law enforcement departments, and that campus carry would create a more challenging environment for our campus police officers.
Huckaby added that the current gun law prohibiting campus carry creates a safe environment for students and a protected location in which carry users do not need to worry. Regardless, HB 859 passed the Georgia State Assembly on Friday, March 11. The next step for HB 859 would be for Gov. Nathan Deal to sign it into law.
Campus carry supporters are not trigger-happy crazies waiting for an opportunity to shoot someone. They are law-abiding citizens concerned with personal safety and the constitutional right to bear arms.
I know some may claim that campus carry promotes a “paranoid” mindset that divides us with a wall of self-protection, but the reality is that criminals do not obey the law and they look for vulnerable targets like gun-free zones.
To be honest, I don’t consider KSU when supporting HB 859. The city of Kennesaw is pretty safe. I think more about colleges like Georgia State and Georgia Tech, where the campus boundaries blur with the downtown environment, resulting in unarmed students being assaulted, mugged or robbed.
“[HB 859] is a step in the right direction for Georgia college students’ protection,” said Hunter Hurst, a senior international business major. “Evidence has shown that responsible, legal gun carry will reduce the crime rates in college campuses.” Hurst advocated for HB 859 at the Georgia capitol building.
I believe HB 859 is a proactive approach to student safety. While I am very thankful for our campus police and public safety department, they only provide a reactive approach after criminal assault has already happened. Additionally, security cameras don’t stop criminal assaults, they merely watch it happen.
Some of the concerns I’ve heard regarding campus carry includes students claiming that they would have to censor their opinion in class discussions in fear of having another student assault them with a firearm. I can safely say that campus carry supporters agree with all of the constitution, to include the right to free speech. In addition, I would argue that anyone willing to assault someone with a firearm because of an opinion, is also willing to assault someone without a firearm because of an opinion.
The campus carry bill would provide a framework for law-abiding students to responsibly and legally exercise their right on college campuses. Ultimately, I see the campus carry debate equivalent to the general gun control debate the nation has after tragedies and I come to the same conclusions. I see guns as tools. People use them for good and for bad. It’s a people issue and not a gun issue.
A most reasonable , reasoned and eloquent understanding of the campus carry issue. With the correct conclusion.
Policies that infantilize students while simultaneously subjecting them to shootings with a means of personal self-defense, and students’ acceptance of such treatment, insures that what can go wrong will go wrong.
A+ to you.