Earlier this year, Georgia
House Representative Sean Jergunson proposed House Bill 981. This bill would
allow concealed handguns onto the campuses of public and private elementary,
middle and high schools, as well as post secondary institutions. Although the
bill did not pass, on May 17, 2012, the faculty and senate at Valdosta State
University (VSU) have taken on a new resolution to declare their opposition of
the bill and to keep all concealed handguns away from their campus.
Those following the faculty
and senate’s decision are Dr. Michael G. Noll, associate professor of
geography, and Kathryn Grant, a senior at VSU. Dr. Noll was the one who
introduced the resolution of joining the Campaign to Keep Guns off Campus.
Kathryn Grant, also zealous about the idea, has researched gun legislation in
Georgia since 2010.
With the encouragement from
VSU’s decision to join the campaign, the campaign’s director, Andy Pelosi, is
hoping other schools may join the battle of keeping weapons off campus. Pelosi
hopes others will speak out against the bill because the battle is not yet
over. He believes it will be amended and back next year.
As
young adults we may not fully understand the potential danger we could put
others in, especially if we are not fully aware of the responsibilities of
carrying a handgun. School is supposed to be a safe environment, a place where parents trust that their children will be protected. By allowing guns on campus you are revoking students of their own security.
Thanks to Dr. Michael G.
Noll and Kathryn Grant, VSU has successfully kept their
campus a safe institution and may incite other campuses to do the same.
By: Morgan McFarland (VSU)
Press & Publicity Coordinator
You actually are kidding right. Tell us how exactly legal concealed carry would jeopardize safety? Conversely, how would barring concealed carry improve safety, remembering VA Tech?
ReplyDeleteI believe people are fooled by the state of a gun being legal or concealed. Just because it is legal or concealed doesn't mean the young adults on campus are mature enough, or fully understand the seriousness, to carry a security device that can be fatal. I believe this was a mature decision of the school if they where looking at the campus as a whole.
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