A law professor at Purdue University in Indiana called campus carry a “common sense solution,” because “banning guns will never stop premeditated murder.”
In an editorial for the Purdue Exponent student newspaper, associate professor Charles Haywood analyzed the campus gun control debate in light of the shooting at Umpqua Community College, and realized if he were put in a similar situation he would be unable to defend his students.
“The question for our community right now shouldn’t be ‘do we want more or less gun control?’ It should be ‘does it make sense to forbid legal licensed concealed carry on campus?’ I think the common sense answer is ‘No,'” Haywood wrote.
He pointed out that the university’s gun ban did not prevent one student from shooting another in a classroom last year.
Haywood addressed the fear that allowing concealed carry on campus would lead to more violence. There are cases of crimes being committed by concealed carry permit holders, he said, however those cases are exceedingly rare. He cited a report from the Crime Prevention Research Center, which states permit holders commit crimes at a rate of 22.3 per 100,000 people–compared to a rate of 3,813 per 100,000 people in the general population.
Recognizing there are legitimate arguments on both sides of the debate, Haywood called for a compromise.
He proposed changing the university’s policy to first allow only faculty and staff who hold concealed carry permits to carry guns on campus, and eventually extend the policy to include licensed students.
