Louisiana College Students Need Education on the Reality of Campus Carry

Students and faculty at Louisiana colleges and universities could soon be able to lawfully carry on campus, if a bill sponsored by Republican Rep. Danny McCormick becomes law. 

Under HB 99, all public higher ed institutions as well as any private college or university that accepts federal funding would no longer be “gun-free zones,” with a few limited exceptions for certain locations on campus like medical or mental health treatment centers and events with security screenings. 

McCormick was the primary House sponsor of Louisiana’s permitless carry law, and HB 99 is best seen as an extension of that statute, allowing adults 18 and older who can lawfully carry a firearm to do so on campus without the need for a state-issued permission slip. 

KALB-TV in Alexandria, Louisiana recently spoke to several students at LSU-Alexandria about McCormick’s proposal, and their responses are both unsurprising and uninformed. 

“I’d say it’s a little frightening, a little scary, just for my own safety,” Breanna Toups said. “It’s definitely a little surprising considering how many school shootings we have.”

And how many of those shootings take place on campuses where faculty, staff, and students can lawfully carry? I’m aware of two; the assassination of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley State University, which did not involve a concealed handgun, and a 2024 double murder at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs that was committed by someone who did not have a concealed carry license and had not registered his pistol with the university as required under the campus carry law that was then in place (the law has since been repealed by Colorado Democrats). 

Laws prohibiting students and staff from legally carrying on campus don’t make colleges and universities safer. They just provide a target-rich environment for those intent on doing harm. 

Jackson Reed said students are immature and should not have those types of weapons on campus. He said he also has concerns about faculty carrying guns.

“I’ve had some crazy teachers in my time, and I have some crazy professors. So, I don’t know if I trust them with guns either,” he said. “I feel like we should leave that to our law enforcement.”

… [Clayton] Baden pointed to mental health concerns. 

“The mental health epidemic in the United States has been blown crazy. It’s gotten really bad,” he said.

Reed’s right about nutty professors, and Baden is correct when he says the mental health crisis in the United Sates is “really bad.” But in the eleven states where campus carry is already the law, I’m not aware of any instances of professors (or students) using a legally-carried firearm on campus to commit a mass murder or even engage in an act of interpersonal violence. 

The other problem with their arguments is that the folks who may soon be able to carry on campus are already able to carry off-campus. Reed and Baden have probably walked by some of these folks in the grocery store or stood in line behind them at a convenience store. If these folks are acting responsibly when they’re carrying away from LSUA, why would Reed, Baden, or any other opponent of campus carry believe that these same gun owners are suddenly going to be irresponsible when they’re on campus?

McCormick’s bill is currently sitting in the House Administration of Criminal Justice committee, and no hearing on the bill has been scheduled to date. Hopefully the bill will start moving soon, but Second Amendment advocates in Louisiana should be working right now to educate students, faculty, and the general public about the truth of campus carry laws.  

Editor’s Note: Pro-2A politicians like McCormick are doing everything they can to protect our Second Amendment rights and right to self-defense.

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