Capitalizing on fears from high-profile school shootings, a national grassroots organization has formed at universities and colleges that advocates for the right to carry concealed weapons on campus. According to their website, Students for Concealed Carry on Campus (SCCC), citing events at Columbine and Virginia Tech, contend "the only way to stop mass murders…is to have responsible citizens in the classroom and on campuses…carry their licensed handguns." Sixty schools have active chapters of the SCCC, including four Virginia institutions: George Mason University, James Madison University, Christopher Newport University and Northern Virginia Community College.
So what about UVA? The University prohibits students or employees from bringing or carrying firearms on any University-owned or -operated property, without express written permission by the University Police Department. So far, no one has stepped up to spearhead an SCCC chapter.
Andrew Ferring, an undergraduate student in the School of Nursing and president of the Virginia Rifle and Pistol Club at UVA, says his organization has no official view on the campus gun ban at this time. He can only offer his personal view: "I think that concealed weapons on campus is a definite possibility, there are two sides to every argument. But I think you would have to look at how it is done."
"I think a lot of people see concealed carry [weapons] as a deterrent. If you don’t know [if] somebody is armed, maybe that will deter people," Ferring says. "You look at a college campus, how different is that from any place else? What draws the line between college campuses and malls…where concealed carry permits are allowed?"
Lieutenant Melissa Fielding of the UVA Police Department feels that introducing concealed weapons on Grounds would complicate her job and create dangerous situations. "Concerns with concealed weapons on campus would arise when officers arrive on a scene with an active shooter and are faced with determining the good guy from the bad guy," says Fielding.
Last year, the National Rifle Association supported a failed legislative effort in Virginia that would have permitted students with concealed weapons licenses to carry their firearms on campus, though the organization has toned down its talk since the tragedy in Blacksburg.
SCCC stresses the fact that they support only licensed concealed weapon holders to carry handguns on campus. The group encourages its members to become locally active with elected officials and media outlets to "overturn University ‘gun-free’ campuses" and lobby for licensed persons to carry their concealed firearms on campuses.—
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