Campus-gun debate hot
Panel backs bill to allow carrying weapons at schools
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Legalizing permitted handguns on college campuses took its first major step toward approval Thursday after three hours of debate in a legislative committee.
Gun advocates, faculty, students and college police chiefs lined up on all sides of the controversial issue that has arisen in the wake of campus shootings nationwide, including at LSU and Baton Rouge’s Louisiana Technical College.
House Bill 199 by Rep. Ernest Wooten, R-Belle Chasse, was approved in an 11-3 vote in the House Criminal Justice Committee. HB199 next moves to debate in the full House.
Wooten said allowing more responsible people to legally carry guns would serve as a deterrent to killers and not create the “wild, wild west.”
Rep. Barbara Norton, D-Shreveport countered, “It’s supposed to be higher education and higher learning, but it seems to me we’re preparing for war.”
Although most of the students who testified opposed the legislation, Southeastern Louisiana University College Republican Geoffrey Green said he only wants to be able to defend his friends if necessary.
“I feel defenseless,” said Green, who legally must keep a gun in his vehicle on campus. “It’s not fair that we’re not able to defend ourselves.”
“Where I spend most of my time, I am mandated to be unprotected,” LSU law student Elizabeth Cooke added.
Southern University student body president Carey Ash said the focus should be on increasing police staffing, not adding more guns. Ash warned that changing the law would harm the recruitment of out-of-state students.
“It is worrisome to not only worry about class grades, but who next to you might have a gun,” said Ash, who chairs the Louisiana Council of Student Body Presidents.
Grambling State University student body vice president Steven Jackson said he sees a more “hostile environment” with more guns on campuses.
“We should be talking about textbooks. We should be talking about scholarships,” Jackson said. “We shouldn’t be talking about guns on college campuses.”
To apply for a permit, a Louisiana resident must be at least 21 years old, take some training and not have a felony record.
HB199 would make it legal to carry licensed, concealed handguns on all public and private colleges, from technical schools to universities.
The National Rifle Association-backed bill also would forbid colleges from limiting the rights of gun owners from carrying concealed handguns. The bill would only allow colleges to regulate the safeguarding of guns when they are put away.
The state’s list of “firearm-free zones” now includes schools and colleges.
Utah is the only state that allows handguns on campuses. Several other states, particularly in the South, have already rejected proposed college handgun bills this year.
State Commissioner of Higher Education Joseph Savoie emphasized that the bill will not allow campuses to regulate themselves.
“What we’re talking about is taking away the authority of the colleges to protect their students,” Savoie said.
Savoie said permitted gun carriers from students to food-service personnel would be carrying handguns from classrooms to LSU’s Tiger Stadium.
“That gives new meaning to Death Valley,” Savoie said.
In the last few months, two international students at LSU were murdered in an on-campus apartment. Weeks later, a Louisiana Technical College student killed two classmates before killing herself.
In 2001-2005, there were 43 murders on college campuses nationwide out of 18 million students, Savoie said.
There were 49 homicides in 2005 in Baton Rouge alone, he said.
“College campuses are much safer than the communities that surround them,” Savoie said, arguing that adding more guns will only increase the risk.
Maurice Franks, a Southern University Law Center professor, said he feels unsafe walking from his office to his car late at night.
“It (the law) allows me to carry a handgun just about everywhere in Louisiana except where I need it most,” Franks said.
NRA representative Tara Mica said only about 25,000 concealed handgun permits were issued in the past 12 years in Louisiana. That would mean only few additional guns on campuses, she said.
McNeese State University Police Chief Cinnamon Salvador said 93 percent of crimes against college students occur off campus.
Also, college students are more prone to abuse alcohol, drugs and to attempt suicide.
“You add firearms to the mix, it’s going to be deadly,” she said.
Noting that the state Capitol is a gun-free zone, Salvador said, “If you believe for one second that concealed firearms are our best defense, then why aren’t we allowed to carry firearms here today?”
Voting for the bill were Wooton and Reps. Damon Baldone, D-Houma; Elbert Guillory, D-Opelousas; Mickey Guillory, D-Eunice; Chris Hazel, R-Ball; Joseph Lopinto, R-Metairie; Nick Lorusso, R-New Orleans; John Schroder, R-Covington; Gary Smith, D-Norco; Ricky Templet, R-Gretna; and Bodi White, R-Central.
Voting against the bill were Norton and Reps. Roy Burrell, D-Shreveport, and Frankie Howard, R-Hornbeck.
Gun advocates, faculty, students and college police chiefs lined up on all sides of the controversial issue that has arisen in the wake of campus shootings nationwide, including at LSU and Baton Rouge’s Louisiana Technical College.
House Bill 199 by Rep. Ernest Wooten, R-Belle Chasse, was approved in an 11-3 vote in the House Criminal Justice Committee. HB199 next moves to debate in the full House.
Wooten said allowing more responsible people to legally carry guns would serve as a deterrent to killers and not create the “wild, wild west.”
Rep. Barbara Norton, D-Shreveport countered, “It’s supposed to be higher education and higher learning, but it seems to me we’re preparing for war.”
Although most of the students who testified opposed the legislation, Southeastern Louisiana University College Republican Geoffrey Green said he only wants to be able to defend his friends if necessary.
“I feel defenseless,” said Green, who legally must keep a gun in his vehicle on campus. “It’s not fair that we’re not able to defend ourselves.”
“Where I spend most of my time, I am mandated to be unprotected,” LSU law student Elizabeth Cooke added.
Southern University student body president Carey Ash said the focus should be on increasing police staffing, not adding more guns. Ash warned that changing the law would harm the recruitment of out-of-state students.
“It is worrisome to not only worry about class grades, but who next to you might have a gun,” said Ash, who chairs the Louisiana Council of Student Body Presidents.
Grambling State University student body vice president Steven Jackson said he sees a more “hostile environment” with more guns on campuses.
“We should be talking about textbooks. We should be talking about scholarships,” Jackson said. “We shouldn’t be talking about guns on college campuses.”
To apply for a permit, a Louisiana resident must be at least 21 years old, take some training and not have a felony record.
HB199 would make it legal to carry licensed, concealed handguns on all public and private colleges, from technical schools to universities.
The National Rifle Association-backed bill also would forbid colleges from limiting the rights of gun owners from carrying concealed handguns. The bill would only allow colleges to regulate the safeguarding of guns when they are put away.
The state’s list of “firearm-free zones” now includes schools and colleges.
Utah is the only state that allows handguns on campuses. Several other states, particularly in the South, have already rejected proposed college handgun bills this year.
State Commissioner of Higher Education Joseph Savoie emphasized that the bill will not allow campuses to regulate themselves.
“What we’re talking about is taking away the authority of the colleges to protect their students,” Savoie said.
Savoie said permitted gun carriers from students to food-service personnel would be carrying handguns from classrooms to LSU’s Tiger Stadium.
“That gives new meaning to Death Valley,” Savoie said.
In the last few months, two international students at LSU were murdered in an on-campus apartment. Weeks later, a Louisiana Technical College student killed two classmates before killing herself.
In 2001-2005, there were 43 murders on college campuses nationwide out of 18 million students, Savoie said.
There were 49 homicides in 2005 in Baton Rouge alone, he said.
“College campuses are much safer than the communities that surround them,” Savoie said, arguing that adding more guns will only increase the risk.
Maurice Franks, a Southern University Law Center professor, said he feels unsafe walking from his office to his car late at night.
“It (the law) allows me to carry a handgun just about everywhere in Louisiana except where I need it most,” Franks said.
NRA representative Tara Mica said only about 25,000 concealed handgun permits were issued in the past 12 years in Louisiana. That would mean only few additional guns on campuses, she said.
McNeese State University Police Chief Cinnamon Salvador said 93 percent of crimes against college students occur off campus.
Also, college students are more prone to abuse alcohol, drugs and to attempt suicide.
“You add firearms to the mix, it’s going to be deadly,” she said.
Noting that the state Capitol is a gun-free zone, Salvador said, “If you believe for one second that concealed firearms are our best defense, then why aren’t we allowed to carry firearms here today?”
Voting for the bill were Wooton and Reps. Damon Baldone, D-Houma; Elbert Guillory, D-Opelousas; Mickey Guillory, D-Eunice; Chris Hazel, R-Ball; Joseph Lopinto, R-Metairie; Nick Lorusso, R-New Orleans; John Schroder, R-Covington; Gary Smith, D-Norco; Ricky Templet, R-Gretna; and Bodi White, R-Central.
Voting against the bill were Norton and Reps. Roy Burrell, D-Shreveport, and Frankie Howard, R-Hornbeck.
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