During the week of April 21-25, 2008, thousands of college students will attend classes wearing empty holsters, in protest of state laws and school policies that disarm law-abiding citizens licensed to carry concealed handguns virtually everywhere else.
The protest, organized under the banner of Students for Concealed Carry on Campus (SCCC), will have students attend classes wearing empty holsters.
SCCC hosted its first national collegiate Empty Holster Protest during the week of October 22-26, 2007, on the campuses of approximately 125 U.S. colleges and universities.
Protesters will focus on sharing the facts of “concealed carry” with students and faculty who may not be aware that concealed carry laws exist or that those laws differ on college campuses from most other locations.
In 39 U.S. states, thousands of college students and faculty—age 21 and above—are licensed to carry concealed handguns throughout their day-to-day lives.
However, despite the absence of any compelling evidence that these licensed individuals would pose any threat to college campuses, they are prohibited either by state law or school policy from carrying their firearms onto most college campuses.
Colorado State University, Blue Ridge Community College (Weyers Cave, VA), and all nine public colleges in the state of Utah currently allow concealed carry on campus. After a combined total of more than sixty semesters of allowing concealed carry on campus, none of these schools have seen any resulting incidents of gun violence, gun accidents, or gun theft.
From assault to rape to mass shootings, college campuses are touched by every type of violent crime imaginable. Labeling an area “gun free” may make some people feel safer, but as the shootings at Virginia Tech and NIU showed, feeling safe is not the same as being safe.
