Do you think concealed weapon permit holders should be allowed to carry guns on Liberty University's campus?

Of course permit holders should be allowed to carry on campus! Why is it that these people are trusted to carry a gun almost everywhere in the state, but suddenly, they are no longer trustworthy when they set foot on a university campus? Let's get real about "gun free zones" here. Anyone who would do criminal acts with a firearm will not be deterred in the least by a "no guns allowed" policy! In fact, just the opposite will happen. The criminal will be attracted to an area where no one is allowed to have guns. It provides a much safer environment for the criminal if he is assured that none of the good, law-abiding people he chooses to prey upon will have the means to effectively defend themselves. These "gun free zones" would more accurately be described as "victim disarmament zones." We do not need to encourage the deranged, violent criminals who would murder us or our children by providing him with a "safe work environment"!

This is the smartest, most effective way to reduce violent crime on campus. When guns aren't permitted, that doesn't stop those who intend to do harm. If criminals (or potential criminals) know that people on campus may be carrying firearms, they will think twice about committing a crime there. And if they do choose to commit a crime, students, faculty, and staff will be capable of protecting themselves (and those around them) if they so choose. Contrary to what some of the gun-fearing media or anti-gun organizations want you to believe, gun accidents are extremely rare, especially among those who have proper training, which is required to receive a concealed-carry permit in Virginia. Concealed carry permit holders are some of the most law-abiding citizens in the state.

Virginia Tech anyone?

A person who kills, as in the example of Virginia Tech, is an outlaw as soon as he brandishes the weapon. By definition, he doesn't care whether you can legally carry a gun in a certain place or not. The difference is whether we allow people a chance to stop the insanity once it starts. If there's also an element of deterrence in knowing that there are some who could fight back, then so much the better.

I have 2 daughters in Virginia universities. I would feel much better if they and others were able to protect themselves on campus. Even though I consider their college campuses safe places, I know that even places that are usually very safe can become unsafe in a hurry (i.e. Virginia Tech). PLEASE allow people to protect themselves on campus. That is the only way to ensure that what happened at VA Tech will not happen again. PLEASE think logically about this.

Virginia Tech, indeed! Would a killer have chosen to go on a crazed killing rampage if he knew that his victims might also be armed? For an answer to that, compare the crime rates of Washington, DC with those of Northern Virginia, right across the Potomac River from each other. DC's violent crimes are FAR greater than the same crime statistics in Virginia. DC doesn't allow any of its residents or visitors to be armed. However, in Virginia, every law-abiding citizen may carry openly, and with a permit which requires fingerprinting, background check and a demonstration of competency with a handgun, any law-abiding citizen must be issued a concealed carry permit. Which place would you rather live in, shop in, go to school in, raise your children in? Throughout America, wherever citizens have been allowed to arm themselves, crime rates have dropped significantly. We could allow the same thing to happen on our campuses. I hope Liberty University will take the lead in this situation, setting an example for all schools in the Nation.

CCW holders are the least likely people to commit violent crimes with firearms. I could not find any incidents on the web where a CCW holder committed a violent crime, yet you can find many incidents of people who are criminals to begin with that commit violent crimes. The police are not there to protect citizens and are many times incapable of doing so because of limited manpower. Nobody commits a violent crime around the police, they wait to attack the unprotected citizens. Most of your police officer interventions during a violent crime is when the officer is off duty, out of uniform, and carrying concealed in civilian attire. Citizens should not be disarmed because other citizens are scared of or unfamiliar with firearms.

When we have a threat such as an active shooter oon campus, those minutes, seconds, and micro-seconds of time that elapse before armed security can effectively intercede to terminate or stop that threat, trained, licensed, legally armed law-abiding students, staff, or bystanders may have a chance to effectively intercept the threat and hold it at bay or stop it. They should be incorporated as a layer of deterrence/defense until properly relieved by security police personnel. Have a procedural policy where law-enforcement and CCW permit holders augment and deconflict with each other. Cell phone comm should be pre-rehearsed. "When seconds count, law-enforcement is only minutes away!"

Well, we have tried the gun ban for a long time now and we have seen what that yields (Virginia Tech anyone?).

Students and instructors should have the same right to self protection as anyone else. A "gun free zone" is a "killing zone". Does anyone really think that a law or rule will prevent a criminal, intent on violence, from carrying a gun into a “gun free zone”? These safe havens only make it safe for the killers, not those who would be killed.

With proper training and background checks we send our man and woman to fight for the liberties and freedoms of this country and others, so YES with the right training and background checks they should be allow to carry concealed any place.

I totally agree. What most people don't consider is that applicants for a permit to carry concealed are required to be age 21 or over, complete the required training (much more than familiarity with firearms), have an in-depth background check by local and State Police, and the FBI, have their application signed off on by the chief of the local LE of the jurisdiction where it is submitted and only then it is issued by the circuit court if all criteria are met. As hard as this permit is to obtain, it’s hard to comprehend that anyone could imagine that a permit holder would jeopardize the time, money and credibility this permit represents. These are the safest people on the planet to be around unless you are considering a dastardly deed. Consider too that concealed means concealed. Students, faculty and staff who might feel uncomfortable about the display of a weapon are not even aware of its presence (that could be a rule). Those who might consider committing a horrible crime do have more than a little cause for concern. They are not aware of the possible sources of deterrent. Having a range and qualified instructors, for firearm safety, competency, marksmanship and when and how to behave in an emergency would be an outstanding idea as well. Read Luke 22:35-38. The road ahead is not always safe. Even a few of our number prepared to defend the rest is enough…. I only wish that VT had the correct perspective on this issue before those lives were needlessly lost because the students, faculty and staff were denied the right to defend themselves. Anyway, that’s how I feel about it. Peace and blessings, oj

No one, especially young people, should be left defenseless in any situation. We cannot prevent evil from happening, but we can and should protect ourselves from it. In a perfect world, we wouldn't need protection, but our society isn't perfect, and we DO need to be able to avoid being victimized by being able, IF WE CHOOSE, to protect ourselves. As someone who has experienced the terror of being defenseless, I beg you to allow responsible adults, who have been trained and thoroughly checked, to be able to carry their concealed weapons on campus. Please don't force these students to be vulnerable. We ALL deserve to be protected. Guns DO save lives~! Vote to allow those with Concealed Carry Weapon Permits to legally carry on Campus.

See my blog entry at http://politicalwrite.blogspot.com/2008/09/anit-gun-rights-to-pro-gun-rights-my.html for my opinions on this subject.

Abraham Lincoln once wrote that, "You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today." Not every city, company, College or University has the resources available to provide a full-time, on-site security detail as sadly VT proved. Many other options are available but NONE as effective as a well trained and armed individual ready commited to protect self and others. Don't make the same mistake twice!!

I strongly believe in the Second Amendment of the US Constitution and feel that responsible individuals properly trained should have the right to carry arms whether concealed or open carry on campus or elsewhere.

College "students" are adults and should exercise all of the rights an adult would otherwise be able to do. We need fewer "gun free zones" and more common sense rules and regulations to allow everyone the full ability to protect themselves. You cannot deter evil by ignoring it.

Remember this simple motto: When seconds count, the police are only minutes away...

Why is it that criminals who might ordinarily assault a citizen will rarely attack a policeman? It isn't because of their respect for the law; rather, it is because the policeman is carrying a firearm, and the criminal assumes the officer knows how to use it. By definition, criminals have little regard for the law, so the likelihood that a criminal would leave his gun at home because he is entering a "gun free zone" is close to zero percent. In fact, a mandatory "gun free zone" is the same as a government guaranteed, "defenseless victim zone". The instances of any criminal behavior from those who have gone through the required rigors to get a concealed carry permit are so low as to be statistically undetectable. To put it in the words of a former Los Angeles police commissioner, “if the general population had the same lack of criminal behavior as concealed carry permit holders, particularly with firearms, the police themselves would not need to carry guns” (paraphrased).

I am a graduate of Liberty University and my son attends there now. I am very much in favor of allowing those with concealed carry permits to carry on campus. I know this has already been mentioned, but it is worth a second mention. Concealed Carry Permit holders have no felony convictions, have never been convicted of any drug offense, have no history of mental disabilities and have passed a criminal history background check. Can you say this of all of your students or visitors to campus? While I appreciate the efforts of the campus and local police, the University has grown too big to be safely patrolled in every location 24 hours a day. Liberty Board of Directors please vote for concealed carry on campus.

They are called criminals because they commit crimes, which means that they break the law. At that rated how can anyone who thinks about it at all that banning guns anywhere is going to stop them???? While security can generally get there quicker than the police, it's still going to be a few minutes before they can get there. I work security at a military base, and even in a vehicle patrol, when seconds count, I'm only minutes away after I get the call. Scumbags fear the legally armed citizen a lot more than they do us or the cops.

When seconds count the police are minutes away. One armed student or staff member could have stopped the VT massacre. Let permit holders carry!

To Robert N. So well said, "Scumbags fear the legally armed citizen". And it's even more effective when they know that they are there but not when and where.... Thanks, oj

No VaTech at Liberty! No! Not EVER!

Agree with Bruce,,, No VaTech at Liberty! No! Not EVER! To do this we must allows those legally able to defend themselves. Never again should we allow policy to create a victim rich environment!

What valid reason would any entity, public or private, have for trusting the morality and character of armed criminals over the morality and character of the armed, law-abiding citizen? Will Liberty University trust a murderer not to bring a firearm on campus for nefarious purposes or will they trust their Christian students to defend themselves and other innocents? As with terrorism, potential victims must be defensively successful 100% of the time, the terrorist/criminal needs only to succeed once. The public appeals to Liberty University to not prohibit the defense of innocent life on campus.

PLEASE PASS THIS!!! I'm a Lynchburg resident who is currently a graduate student at Radford University, and while I'll only be there one more year, I would like to see other Virginia colleges/universities (and other schools nationwide) to consider the same thing that LU is. Blue Ridge Community College (which is in Virginia) allows its students, faculty, and staff who hold Concealed Carry Permits to carry their handguns on campus, but I think it would be especially important if a larger, more well-know school does the same. The Second Amendment should still apply even when you're on campus!