Campus carry now goes to the desk of Gov. Jim Justice for his signature. Permit holders would be allowed to have their handguns concealed on their person on state college and university campuses.
National Rifle Association West Virginia State Director Art Thomm said Tuesday that the gun rights organization “applauds the West Virginia Legislature’s passage of NRA-backed campus carry.”
Thomm added that “there is no reason why any adult who is deemed mature enough to defend his or her country at war should not be entrusted to defend themselves and others on campus. And there is no reason an adult who is allowed to carry in other parts of the state can’t be trusted when on campus.”
One of the proponents of the measure is Delegate Mike Honaker, who was a Virginia State Police officer who was on the scene of the horrific 2007 Virginia Tech massacre that left 32 dead.
Honaker acknowledged that the issue must be dealt with carefully. However, having lived through it “and seen it with my own eyes,” he said he could not stand in the way of another law-abiding American from defending themselves in that position.
The former officer told delegates that he will never forget the blood that covered the floor of Norris Hall. Neither will he forget the sound of cell phones ringing as people tried unsuccessfully to reach their loved ones after the massacre.
It remains the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history.
There is a laundry list of exceptions where concealed weapons may not be carried under the legislation. Stadiums and arenas with over 1,000 spectators, campus daycare facilities, law enforcement buildings, formal disciplinary and grievance hearings, laboratories, medical and mental health facilities, and others will not allow concealed carry.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Trump explained that legislators attempted to fashion a law that protected constitutional rights and the general public. “We tried very hard to accommodate this and do it in a commonsense way that preserves and gives life to the citizens of the state, even those who are just college kids — a constitutional right they have to have a weapon for the defense of themselves.”
Eleven states currently allow campus carry: Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Mississippi, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Wisconsin.
West Virginia is one of 20 states that have no laws preventing concealed carry on campus.
A 2017 study threw cold water on critics who charge that campus carry will result in a wave of violent incidents. In fact, the outcome is exactly the opposite.
The Crime Prevention Research Center’s John Lott, writing in the Kansas City Star, explained that gun control advocates predict dire consequences in every state that adopts campus carry. However, time and again that is proven to be far from the case.
“Over the decades,” Lott reported, “not a single permit holder who was allowed to carry on university property has committed a crime with his gun.” Decades resulted in only six accidental discharges with only minor injuries as the outcome.
The facts speak for themselves. Concealed carry permit holders simply obey the law while being ready to defend themselves and others. All the shrill warnings of carnage and bloodshed if constitutional rights are protected are merely hollow talk based on “what-ifs.”
If Gov. Justice signs the bill into law, it will take effect in July 2024.
