Gun control and its effect on college safety has become contentious, but for one college in northern New York, they encourage students to bring their weapons for hunting season.
At Paul Smith’s College, rural gun culture and higher education intertwine, according to North Country Public Radio.
No handguns are allowed, but during deer season, the college armory, nestled beside the gym and recreation center, has about 200 firearms stocked.
“A different kind of college, a different kind of student,” Brian Mann notes.
Many students come from areas where guns and hunting is part of a well-established culture. Paul Smith’s requires students to take a course on hunting safety, secure their guns, and have a locked case and trigger lock, but safety comes before fear.
The issue of guns on campus is a far cry from a place such as the University of Texas at Austin. Paul Smith’s is in a rural area and students are not allowed to bring their firearms to a dormitory or certain other areas on campus. If they violate the rules, they lose their gun privileges. In Texas, the campus carry law will allow students to have handguns on campus, and possibly in dormitories.
Other colleges allow for gun storage for student hunters, but few embrace hunting and gun culture like Paul Smith’s.
Colleges residing in rural areas tend to provide storage options, though it’s hard to say how many do so. Montana Tech of the University of Montana and Highlands College provide gun storage for students living on campus. Montana State University follows suit, as do North Dakota State University, Bowdoin College in Maine, and multiple colleges in Colorado.
For Paul Smith’s, however, no other campus appears to integrate gun and hunting culture so strongly. Officials report that they have had no major safety incidents involving guns.
