Campus Carry: How do West Virginians feel?

BECKLEY, WV (WVNS)– It’s a hot topic that many tend to feel very strongly about one way or the other, guns on school grounds.

Now that West Virginia is allowing campus carry starting this summer, where does the Mountain State stand?

West Virginia Governor Jim Justice passed Senate Bill 10, or the Campus Self-Defense Act, and now students can legally conceal carry a pistol or handgun while on campus. Student and faculty response has always varied on this issue from the start, from those who support it from a standpoint of self-defense, to those who object out of safety concerns.

Ian Stines, a Concord University student, is one of the students who thought it could be beneficial for security reasons.

“If there was an active shooter, they could potentially protect us,” said Stines.

Another Concord University student, Makenzie Fugate, however, felt that there could be too many potential dangers in allowing students to have weapons on hand.

“I’d be nervous that if something would happen that the person beside of me or behind me would not know what to do and would just start shooting,” Fugate said.

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Now that Senate Bill 10 has officially passed, however, students and faculty are having to come to terms with the legislation either way.

For some, knowing that each college can determine when and where firearms are allowed makes them feel safer, however. A few universities, for example, will implement gun lockers to store the guns safely, and disallow students from carrying while in class or in large crowds of over 1,000 people.

Madison Brooke Sears, the current president of Concord University’s Student Government Association, said she has heard students’ concerns from both sides, and feels better knowing steps are being taken to address each one.

“There are concerns of how we are going to handle this as a whole, as Concord, and as the student body, but we are all really thankful for all that Concord has done and all that the chief risk management officer has done to address those concerns.”

Associate Professor of Psychology and Faculty President at Concord, Adriana Falco, said she feels that student safety should always remain first priority throughout this endeavor.

“I think at the end of the day, not only myself but many of my faculty, our primary concern is about our students’ safety,” said Falco. “It will remain to be seen, I think, what this does in terms of student safety, but I feel really strongly that not just our faculty, but our whole university, that’s our concern- that we want our students to be safe.”

While some are grappling with its implementation, others think it will drastically help with crime in the area and reduce school violence. Brock Arthur just graduated from West Virginia University Tech, and thought it was important to make the distinction that all the legislation does is make it legal for students to conceal carry with a valid permit, if they should want to.

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“This new legislation is really going to allow students to feel more comfortable on their commute to and from the classroom and other locations on campus, and I think what we’ll see is a sharp decline in crime rates around the Tech campus,” said Arthur.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, school shootings jumped up 124% between 2020 and 2022. Some believe campus carry will only add to this number, but Arthur thinks it could help save lives.

“Law enforcement cannot be everywhere at once,” said Arthur. “Law enforcement understands that and students understand that, and the fact of it is, is that when violence is seconds away, you are going to be calling someone with a firearm to deal with the situation, and they are probably going to be minutes away. So I think in general, this is good for both students, and the city of Beckley as well.”

Senate Bill 10 will go into effect starting on Monday, July 1, 2024.

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