The governor of Missouri might not veto legislation that allows conceal-and-carry on campus, but he opposes the policy.
Governor Jay Nixon said he thought repealing gun-free zones on campus would be an unwise move in an interview with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
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“We don’t need more guns on campuses. There’s a reason why campuses are gun free and they should remain that way,” Nixon said. “Gunfights on the quadrangle will not solve problems.”
Previously, two Missouri state senators introduced a bill to repeal a campus ban on concealed weapons, and a University of Missouri professor sued the university to allow conceal-and-carry on campus. Since Friday, Representatives Jered Taylor and Mike Kelley introduced two bills that would also allow campus carry and would repeal the current gun-free zone policies on Missouri college campuses.
Responding to those proposals, Nixon was negative.
“That’s not the right policy. It would not make our campuses safer,” he said.
Kansas passed a law that will repeal gun-free zones on college campuses, effective July 2017. Professors have pushed back against the move, but the Republican-controlled legislation has signaled that they have no plans to alter the law.
Campus carry and gun-free zones vary by state. Nineteen states ban concealed weapons on campus outright, and 23 others leave the decision to the college or university. Eight states allow concealed weapons on campus, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Texas and Kansas will join those eight states in 2016 and 2017, respectively.
In October, California Governor Jerry Brown signed a law that banned concealed weapons from public college campuses. Guns on campus have become a flashpoint in the debate over campus safety, even though their effectiveness in preventing shootings has been murky at best. The debate tends not to be enlightening about safety, but as a signal to how someone thinks about guns in society.
