New Hampshire College Students Divided on Campus Carry Bill
“So-called gun-free zones are not violence-free zones. We know that”
Why would you even go to college in New Hampshire if this is an issue for you?
New Hampshire Public Radio reports:
‘Campus carry’ bill has NH college students divided: Do guns mean freedom or fear?
At age 19, Alexander Fenton can legally vote, fight in a war and carry a gun.
When he steps onto the campus of the University of New Hampshire, where he studies business, the latter goes out the window. The college prohibits the possession and use of firearms.
Fenton doesn’t think that’s fair — and a proposed law could change it.
“College students in New Hampshire are legal adults,” Fenton told a legislative committee on Wednesday. “We vote, we sign contracts, we serve in the military, yet the moment we step onto campus, we lose a constitutional right that every other adult in this state enjoys.”
Rep. Sam Farrington, a fellow UNH student who lives in Rochester, put forth a so-called “campus carry” bill with the support of top-ranking House Republicans. It would prevent publicly funded colleges from restricting the lawful possession or use of weapons, including firearms and non-lethal tools like tasers and pepper spray.
Farrington said his right, and the rights of others, to carry a gun shouldn’t be restricted just because he’s a college student. He also pitched guns as a way for good people to fight back in the case of a mass shooting.
“So-called gun-free zones are not violence-free zones. We know that,” Farrington said while presenting the bill to the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee. “They are defenseless zones, where potential victims are left without any hope of putting up a fight against the bad guy.”
About a dozen states allow campus carry — New Hampshire is one of many that leaves those policies up to each college. With New Hampshire’s status as a constitutional carry state, where residents have the freedom to carry guns without a permit, some felt that right shouldn’t be stripped when stepping onto a college campus and that having a gun would make them feel safer.
For others, students’ maturity levels and mental health were a concern. The idea of their peers carrying guns in the close quarters of a classroom or dormitory sparks fear, not relief.
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Comments
its racist to not allow non criminals to carry
“Why would you even go to college in New Hampshire if this is an issue for you?”
In-state tuition.
“For others, students’ maturity levels and mental health were a concern. The idea of their peers carrying guns in the close quarters of a classroom or dormitory sparks fear, not relief.”
“Please! Please! Relieve us of the burden of our rights!”
How many campus shooters have had valid Licenses to Carry? I would wager that the number approached zero. How many LTC holders have prevented or reduced shootings? Quite a few. QED.