Students respond to the push to make Ohio State a concealed carry campus

In the days following the attack on Ohio State’s campus last Monday, Ohio State’s no-carry policy has been a topic of debate.

After the attack, the medical director at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center commented, “Thankfully that individual did not have a gun.” He speculated that the campus-wide no-carry policy likely prevented injuries, even potentially fatal ones. However, some students felt differently.

Buckeyes for Concealed Carry started a petition on Change.org. Pass REAL Campus Concealed Carry invites Senators and signees alike to consider amending House Bill 48. The bill would allow licensed campus concealed carry and remove the university campus carry opt-in clause retaining the authority to regulate campus carry in the general assembly.

They explain that a no-carry policy is a hinderance “to the very people who are most impacted by the restriction; students, faculty, and staff.”

The petition has 752 supporters and counting, and when it receives 1,000 signatures, it will be delivered to State Senators Bill Coley, Kris Jordan, and Bill Seitz to name a few.

Tarak Underiner composed the following Facebook post in response to the petition:

I asked eight students whether or not they thought The Ohio State University should be a concealed carry campus. They responded:

Megan — Sophomore

“Students should not be permitted to have concealed carry. However, the school should provide training to teachers and teaching assistants – people who will presumably not go out of their way to use the privilege illegally – so that they will know how to respond in emergency situations. For example, in our high school, a few teachers exercised concealed carry and the students did not know the location of the weapon. Also, I do not think it is necessary if we have police presence. Monday’s incident was resolved rather quickly.”

Rachel — Sophomore

“I do not think it is necessary on a college campus.”

Bree — Sophomore

“I think that people should be allowed to have guns, but this is a different situation. We [college students] are still developing. We should not give a student a gun, especially in an environment like a dorm room, and expect them to know how to react or behave rationally.”

Ben — Sophomore

“As much as I know it probably would not be a good thing, at the same time, I do not know. I have kind of actually been thinking about it because of the possible open carry for Columbus. I would say that I think it should be allowed, just for the fact that anyone that takes the time to get a concealed carry, almost 99% of the time, will not be the one that causes problems. I obviously believe in being able to own guns. But at the same time, I do not think a bigger gun presence in public is the answer to the problem.”

Cassie — Freshman

“No, I do not think anybody needs guns. If no one had guns, no one would shoot one another. Think about Australia; they have very strict gun control laws and therefore mass shootings are not a problem. And I was in McPherson when the accident occurred on Monday, so I was fairly close.”

Kiersten — Sophomore

“I am okay with it. I was in the front classroom of Baker Systems [on Monday]. If someone would have come into the classroom, we could not have defended ourselves.”

Katie — Sophomore

“I believe in concealed carry, but I think we should have stricter laws on who can obtain a license.”

Ilya — Sophomore

“I think it should be okay as long as they are registered and receive background checks.”