Concealed Carry on Campus? Updated X2
7 comments March 20th, 2008
The Feb. 14 shooting deaths at NIU’s Cole Hall, coupled with the previous massacre at Virginia Tech, have fueled a movement dedicated to encouraging concealed guns on college campuses.
A group called Students for Concealed Carry on Campus is growing at campuses across the nation, as at least 12 states are considering legislation to allow college students to carry concealed guns on campus, NPR reports. A print version of NPR’s story, as well as a link to an audio interview with a SCCC leader, are here.
After deadly shootings at schools in Illinois and Virginia, 12 states are considering legislation to allow guns on college campuses. Stephen Feltoon, a director for Students for Concealed Carry on Campus (SCCC), is part of a movement that says college students should have the same gun ownership rights as others.
Feltoon says he purchased his first gun for recreation. “Now I own it for defense,” he says. “I can take a firearm anywhere that’s not a college campus, a liquor establishment, or any business that posts a ‘no gun’ sign. When am I carrying it? That’s the beauty of conceal and carry. You’ll never know until I need it.”
It’s not clear how great of a presence SCCC has among Illinois campuses. But students at four Illinois colleges identify themselves as local contacts for the group. Their names and contact info are here. (The list of contacts, nationwide, is extensive and worth a look.)
Illinois law does not permit concealed carry, despite the best efforts of advocates. However, there are those who argue that Illinois law does permit a citizen to carry a handgun concealed in a fanny pack.
In November 2005, the Register Star published this report:
SPRINGFIELD — Just store your handgun and ammunition separately in your fanny pack, and go about your day.
As long as you own the gun legally and you don’t happen to be in a local government that precludes such a move, you’re perfectly legal in Illinois.
At least that’s the interpretation of the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police, which raised the issue Tuesday during a Capitol news conference where law-enforcement officials called for greater state restrictions on guns.
Giacomo “Jack” Pecoraro, the group’s executive director, called the loophole “Illinois’ implied conceal carry” law.
“If you’ve seen tourists with the small bags, you can have the firearm in the bag over here and the clip or the necessary rounds. It takes a mere second to load it,” he said. “And that’s allowable, and this is what we’re trying to stop.”
Richard Pearson, executive director of the Illinois State Rifle Association, agreed with that interpretation. However, he said an individual carrying an unloaded gun in a fanny pack would not be legal “on a public street.”
UPDATE 1
Stateline.org offers a good deal of background on how state lawmakers around the nation are revisiting concealed carry laws in light of campus violence. These two stories are dated — they were published last spring, following the Virgina Tech shootings — but useful nonetheless.
The first story:
The most recent legislative debate in Virginia, one of 48 states that issue permits allowing citizens to carry concealed firearms, arose after Virginia Tech disciplined an unnamed student who brought a firearm to class in 2005.
State Del. Mark Cole (R) this spring failed to push through a measure that would have let students with concealed-carry permits bring firearms on campus, trumping the school’s policy prohibiting them. The legislation languished in a subcommittee after a hearing. A similar measure failed last year.
The same issue came up this year in Utah, too, with the opposite result. The University of Utah gave up its struggle to keep its gun restrictions. A new law signed last month by Gov. Jon Huntsman (R) allows students to request roommates who don’t have a concealed-carry permit. Students 21 or older can bring firearms to campus if they have permits.
The second story:
In reaction to the Virginia Tech shooting spree, a Louisiana state lawmaker and higher education officials unveiled legislation Wednesday (April 18) to make clear that the state’s public universities can ban guns in student dorm rooms.
Legislation by Louisiana state Rep. Richard Gallot (D) seeks to remove any doubt that guns are banned from college dorm rooms, despite a conflict between a state law allowing Louisiana residents to keep guns in their homes and one banning firearms at universities.
The Louisiana proposal is the latest illustration of the collision between gun-free policies at state-run universities and state laws that are making it easier for citizens to carry firearms in other public places. While some states explicitly allow college campuses to ban guns, public universities such as Virginia Tech have had to defend their firearm restrictions in the face of laws in 48 states allowing citizens to get permits to carry concealed firearms. Sometimes, students have been the ones to challenge campus gun bans.
UPDATE 2
I reached out to the SCCC’s contacts at Illinois campuses to find out more about the group’s activity in this state. D. Scott Dennison, the SCCC campus leader at Parkland College in Champaign, responded by e-mail:
Thank you for the email and for your interest in the SCCC cause. It is very difficult to say exactly how many members are from a particular area. Anyone can become a member, and disclosing your location is not required. This is also the case for your question about exactly which campuses are active. What I can say, though, is that we are very proudly over 20,000 members strong and are still rapidly growing. From the beginning, SCCC has been a nation wide organization, so all states have always been included. Unfortunately, Illinois is one of the only two remaining non-carry states. Therefore, we Illinois based campus leaders have a much more serious situation on our hands. We must appeal to state representatives as well as college campuses. Illinois and Wisconsin will come to their senses soon enough. Again, thank you for contacting me.
