Where Guns Are Allowed on Campus

It’s the most American of reactions. In the wake of mounting mass shootings on college campuses—like the tragic massacre at the Umpqua Community College in Oregon that killed nine innocent people, and the more recent shooting of four students at Northern Arizona University—politicians like Donald Trump, Ben Carson, and several other GOP representatives say the best way to keep our campuses safe is to arm teachers and students.

Some states already allow faculty, students, and others to carry concealed handguns on campus—what’s often referred to as “campus carry.” Last year, the Texas legislature passed a law allowing guns on campus with the proviso that schools can limit the locations and people who are allowed to have guns in their possession. That law will become effective on August 1 of next year—the 50th anniversary of America’s first mass college shooting on Texas’s very own University of Texas campus. In the controversial aftermath of this decision, economics professor Daniel Hamermesh resigned his position at the university.