A new bill set for the 2016 General Assembly hopes to give college professors the right to carry concealed guns on public college campuses across the state, and activists on both sides of the issue ar



A new bill set for the 2016 General Assembly hopes to give college professors the right to carry concealed guns on public college campuses across the state, and activists on both sides of the issue are weighing in.

Delegate Bob Marshall, famous for numerous other controversial bills throughout his tenure in the House, has proposed HB 79, which would give college professors the right to carry concealed firearms into college classrooms, as well as invalidate any laws put in place by a college which would otherwise ban the carry of weapons.

Del. Marshall did not return phone calls by press time, but Lori Haas, whose daughter was shot and survived the 2007 Virginia Tech Massacre, said these kinds of bills “makes no sense what so ever.”

Haas said she was a stay at home mom before senior VA Tech student Seung-Hui Cho walked through the Blacksburg campus, shooting hollow-point bullets from a 9mm pistol into Tech students and faculty – killing 32 and wounding 17. She is now the Virginia State Director for the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence.

“These shootings have nothing to do with schools and everything to do with dangerous individuals easy access to high-powered firearms,” Haas said. “Schools, statistically, are the most safe places for our children despite the school shootings that we see.”

Haas referenced a number of Department of Justice studies which looked specifically at gun violence on campuses.

According to one DOJ study from 2001, the homicide rate at post-secondary education institutions was 0.07 per 100,000 students in 1999; meanwhile the average criminal homicide rate for persons ages 17 to 29 was 14.1 per 100,000. Another Department of Justice study found that 93% of violent crimes that victimize college students occur off campus.

“Why would we want to introduce firearms into places where our children are most safe?” Haas said.

Since the Tech shootings, Haas has advocated expanding gun laws, and year after year she said she is unsurprised to see bills like Del. Marshall’s come forward.

“What is particularly offensive about the gun lobby is they want to force a lifestyle on people who don’t want it,” she said. “No one in schools is asking for guns.”

For the most part, guns are currently allowed on Virginia college campuses in some way, however they are not allowed in most educational buildings.

Virginia is one of a number of states that allows higher institutions of learning to set their own policy on firearm possession, however the state allows open carry and concealed carry on campus grounds. This means someone can bring a gun onto the VCU compass, just not into Schafer Dining Hall.

A 2011 State Supreme Court ruling created the yes on grounds, no in buildings rule.

While Virginia Commonwealth University said they do not comment on pending legislation, they said anyone currently found with a gun in a campus building would be asked to remove the weapon, leave the campus, or (if they refused earlier requests) be arrested for trespassing according to their current policy.

Further showing support for less guns on college campuses, Old Dominion University took steps to remove a policy which allowed concealed carry on their Norfolk campus some years back.

But not everyone is as against armed professors.

Liberty University, the Christian private school in Lynchburg, VA, is one of the only schools in the state which allows open and concealed carry on campus and in campus buildings.

And advocates like Philip Van Cleave, President of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, thinks Marshall’s law is a good first step toward removing any trace of “gun-free zones” from places of learning.

“In an emergency situation there isn’t necessarily time for the police to arrive,” Van Cleave said.

He and his fellow activists have gone to bat over a similar armed-professor bill last year and he believes this law could add a layer of safety for students and staff.

“No one would know he or she has it, which professors do and don’t, until an emergency hits… and there’s some real advantages in that,” he said. “If someone starts murdering people like Cho did… they wouldn’t be able to say ‘there’s no police in here, I’ll have control of the place.”

Haas was particularly disturbed by the idea of professors being held responsible for students safety in this regard. She stressed police officers have hours of training and are paid to defend people, and professors are not.

But in Van Cleave’s eyes, if a professor has a concealed carry permit they’re capable of defending themselves, and in an active shooter situation, all the professor would have to do is defend themselves.

“Self defense is pretty straight forward,” he said. “The main thing the professor needs to do is defend his own life and by doing that he’ll defined everyone else in the room.”

Van Cleave also pointed to states where concealed carry are already allowed, like Utah where many state schools allow concealed carry in campus buildings. He also questioned the validity of the Department of Justice study suggesting less guns make college campuses safer.

“Generally on a campus, you’re fairly safe. Regardless if you’re armed or not,” he said. “That’s the difference between Utah, where things are nice and quiet, and Virginia Tech where there was a slaughter – Those high body counts almost always go with the gun free zone.”

Both Haas and Van Cleave have promised to go before the 2016 General Assembly to fight for their respective stances on the issue. Stay tuned to RVAMag for more details as the GA unfolds.