A little more than three years ago, Seung-Hui Cho entered a building at Virginia Tech, chained the doors shut and began shooting. He killed 32 people–the deadliest school shooting in United States history. The tragedy sparked a nationwide review of campus safety measures. Colleges began coordinating with local police to update old and outdated emergency policies. But the shooting also caused many students, dismayed by the poor emergency response by Virginia Tech administrators and police, to start looking toward ensuring their own safety. A movement was born to roll back long-standing handgun bans at colleges, led by the group Students for Concealed Carry on Campus.

The campaign argues that gun-free zones, far from ensuring the safety of students, leaves them defenseless. As David Burnett, the director of public relations for SCCC, said in a phone interview, “We find these pieces of paper tacked to the door that say ‘no guns allowed’ aren’t doing much to deter shooters or even average criminals.”