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States Weigh Allowing Guns on Campuses

Bills pending in 12 legislatures; advocates want ability to protect selves

By Erin Mendell, Newser User

Posted Feb 15, 2008 5:23 PM CST

(Newser) – Twelve states are considering bills that would allow people to carry guns at public universities, USA Today reports, a response to last year's Virginia Tech massacre. "The only way to stop a person with a gun is another person with a gun," says a University of Cincinnati sophomore who has a license but is barred from having a weapon on campus.

But a student who was wounded in the Virginia Tech attack disagrees. "Having guns in the classroom only makes things worse," he says. Illinois, where six died in a campus shooting yesterday, is not among the states considering such a bill. Utah alone allows permit-holders to carry guns at its nine public universities, while 38 states prohibit guns in schools.

[Images (3)]

[Videos (1)]

Sorority members of Northern Illinois University participate in a candlelight vigil for Dan Parmenter early Friday, Feb. 15, 2008. Parmenter is one of the victims of the NIU shooting Thursday in DeKalb,... (Associated Press)

An unidentified person is carried out of Norris Hall at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., in this April 16, 2007, file photo, after a shooting incident. A gunman opened fire in a dorm and classroom on... (Associated Press)

A student is escorted by a police officer after a campus shooting at Northern Illinois University left six people, including the gunman, dead Thursday afternoon, Feb. 14, 2008, in DeKalb, Ill. (AP Photo/The... (Associated Press)

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States Weigh Allowing Guns on Campuses