Leland: Gun law will not make our campus safer

As the Georgia General Assembly debates a controversial gun bill, GCSU students, faculty, administration and staff members appear to fall on both sides of the issue. One version of the proposed gun bill would allow schools to decide if guns are allowed on the campuses of the state’s colleges and universities.

During a University Senate meeting on March 29, GCSU President Dorothy Leland discussed some of the concerns she and some other University System of Georgia presidents had with the proposed legislation.

“University System of Georgia presidents believe that (the proposed new gun law) will not make our campuses safer,” Leland said. “Its passage is something for us to worry about.”

Some students also share feelings about the dangers of firearms on campus.

“I don’t see the purpose of having a gun on campus,” senior history major Daniel Hannah said. “I’m pro-guns. I hunt, but I’m not a fan of handguns since they’re meant to hurt or maim someone else.”

Another issue Leland shared was her personal comfort about firearms in a work environment.

“I personally don’t want to work in a place where employees and students are carrying weapons,” Leland said. “That’s just a personal view and others may feel differently about this.”

With individuals being allowed to carry guns on campus, some students believe the campus atmosphere would feel more tense.

“I would not feel comfortable at all,” junior management major Jackie Beese said. “I don’t think guns should be on campus.”

Under the current law, a 1,000-foot safety zone around schools makes carrying a gun within that zone illegal. However, the new bill being proposed would change this.

“If this bill becomes law, we lose school safety zone protection,” Leland said.

Under current law currently, possessing a gun within this zone is a felony offense. However, if the new law passes, this will no longer be the case.

If the bill passes, the state Board of Regents does not appear likely easily call it quits. A concerted effort from the Regents could do what is necessary to keep weapons off campus.

“I believe that if this bill becomes law, the Board of Regents will seriously consider writing rules that prohibit weapons on its campuses,” Leland said.

Unfortunately, the most the Regents could enforce would be a trespassing charge. And as the gun bill currently stands, any guns in the university’s parking lot are protected as long as they are locked.

Another concern involves how Public Safety might be affected by the bill in its response to a gun without the owner having a gun permit.

“Public Safety says that if there is an active shooter on campus and there are many registered gun owners with their guns out, their response time could be slower as they seek to determine who the shooter is,” Leland said.

Leland said her stance on this gun issue is more than just her personal view.

“As president of the university, parents entrust the safety of their students to me,” Leland said.

The Colonnade conducted an unofficial poll on GCSUnade.com from Feb. 18 to Feb. 25. The results were 78 percent in favor of the gun bill, 19 percent againsit t, and 3 percent of respondents said they needed more information.

Posted by Matt Rogers on Apr 9 2010. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry