Question of the Day: Would You Give Your College Kid a Gun?

1. I trust my 12yo daughter more than some of the students I have classes with. If she lives off campus for college if she goes away from home, hell yea she’ll have a gun!

2. I don’t have kids, but let’s say I did…

   If it was merely against “campus policy” the kids would definitely have guns. Better to be kicked out of school than killed/raped.

   If it was against “the law” it would depend on how severe the penalties are. Disorderly persons? Here’s your gun. Felony? Find a different school…

   • That’s how I felt when I went to school.

     It was not illegal in my state, but against campus policy.

     My solution? I carried every day and didn’t tell a soul about it. I figured I’d much rather be expelled than dead because another Cho wannabe went on a murder rampage because he couldn’t get laid.

     Seriously – over half these mass killers, even McVeigh all gave difficulties in finding a girlfriend as one of their motivators to go murder-nutty.

     From now on, when people talk about mass shootings and “guns=bad”, I’m going to counter that making prostitution legal would be a common sense solution to mass killings.

     It’s so crazy it just might work.

3. my college age son has his own weapon and CCW. unfortunately, he’s not allowed to carry on campus because of, you know, GUNS!!11$@1

4. Boise State was forced to change their weapons on campus policy by a new Idaho law, effective 7/1/14, that allowed people with Idaho “Enhanced” concealed weapons licenses to carry on university campuses – with some exceptions. BSU made those exceptions as wide as possible, continuing to prohibit guns in dorms or other university-controlled housing.:

   Boise State University Policy #: 12080 Effective Date: June 1, 2000 Revised: October 2007; March 2013; June 2014

   Purpose: To establish policy for the regulation of the possession of firearms and other weapons on university owned or controlled premises.

   Additional Authority:
   Idaho Code Title 18, Chapter 33
   18 U.S.C. §§ 926B, 926C
   18 U.S.C. § 930
   Department of Army Regulation §145-1
   United States Army Cadet Command Regulation §145-3
   Idaho State Board of Education Policy I. R. Campus Security

   Scope:
   Applies to all firearms and other weapons on university owned or controlled premises.

   Definitions:
   Weapon(s) – Any animate or inanimate device, instrument, material, or substance used for, or is readily capable of, causing death or serious bodily injury. Any device that is “deadly or dangerous” under Idaho Code § 18-3302D(2)(a), as well as replicas or facsimiles that may be perceived as a weapon. Includes firearms, knives, incendiary devices and explosives.

   POLICY

   I. Policy Statement
   A safe and secure environment is fundamental to fulfilling the university’s mission of teaching, research, and public service. Boise State University is committed to maintaining an environment free of violence. This obligation includes restricting recognized hazards from the campus community that contribute to violence or serious harm.

   II. Prohibition
   The possession, wearing, carrying, transporting, or use of a Weapon is strictly forbidden on university owned or controlled premises, including vehicles parked on such premises. This prohibition extends to any person with a government-issued permit or license. Violation of this policy may result in disciplinary action and the following sanctions:
   A. Exclusion or expulsion, in the case of students, or
   B. Exclusion or dismissal from employment, in the case of faculty and staff, or
   C. Exclusion from campus, in the case of the public.

   III.Exceptions to the Prohibition
   The following are exceptions to the general prohibition of Weapons on university owned or controlled premises:
   A. The lawful possession of Weapons by full-time sworn peace officers, Level I reserve officers, and qualified law enforcement officers, as such officers are defined in 18 U.S.C. § 926B (whether in uniform or off-duty/plain clothes with proper identification). Also included in the exception are on-duty armored transport personnel.
   B. The lawful carrying of concealed firearms by a qualified retired law enforcement officer, as such officers are defined in 18 U.S.C. § 926C and Idaho Code § 18-3302H, or by a person who holds an enhanced license to carry concealed weapons, as described in Idaho Code § 18-3302K. 1. However, it is not lawful for a person issued a license under the provisions of Idaho Code §18-3302H or Idaho Code § 18-3302K to carry a firearm under the influence of alcohol.
   2. It is also not lawful for a person issued a license under the provisions of Idaho Code § 18-3302H or Idaho Code § 18-3302K to carry a firearm within a student dormitory or residence hall, or within any building of a public entertainment facility. Specifically, those licenses do not permit carrying of firearms: a. Within any student dormitories or residence halls, including, but not limited to:
   i. Aspen Townhouse
   ii. Barnes Towers Hall
   iii. Cedar Townhouse
   iv. Chaffee Hall
   v. Clearwater Suites
   vi. Driscoll Hall
   vii. Keiser Hall
   viii. Hawthorne Townhouse
   ix. Juniper Townhouse
   x. Morrison Hall
   xi. Payette Suites
   xii. Spruce Townhouse
   xiii. Selway Suites
   xiv. Tamarack Townhouse
   xv. University Heights Apartments
   xvi. University Manor Apartments
   xvii. University Park Apartments
   xviii. University Square Apartments
   xix. University Village Apartments
   b. Within any building of a public entertainment facility with a seating capacity of at least one thousand (1,000) persons, namely: i. Boas Tennis and Soccer Complex
   ii. Bronco Gym
   iii. Albertsons Stadium, including all attached facilities with direct access such as the Allen Noble Hall of Fame Gallery, the Bleymaier Football Center, the Caven-Williams Sport Complex, the Fedrizzi Fitness Center Annex, the Idaho Sports Medicine Institute, the Keith and Catherine Stein Band Hall, the Nicolson-Yanke Athletic Center, the Simplot Center for Athletic Excellence, the Stueckle Sky Center, and the Varsity Center Annex.
   iv. Dona Larsen Park
   v. Morrison Center
   vi. Student Union Building, including all attached facilities with direct access such as the Special Events Center (SpEC)
   vii. Taco Bell Arena, including all attached facilities, subject to section III.D, below…

   SUMMARY: WE HATE GUNS. GUNS ARE ICKY, AND WE ARE GOING TO MAKE IT AS DIFFICULT AS POSSIBLE FOR HONEST STUDENTS AND VISITORS TO PROTECT THEMSELVES. SHUT UP!!

   • What more could we expect from Seattle I mean San Diego cough cough oh sorry I mean Boise.

   • BSU is doing everything in their power to drag their feet into the concrete on this too, to include “needing more money for metal detectors and additional security” because of the new law, which is idiotic.

     Douchebags.

     • Oh my gosh yes.

       Of the 3 state colleges, BSU (My alma mater) was embarrassing whined like stupid babies and stamped their feet, and spent a ton of money on metal detectors and security.

       One had a few questions, because one of their satellite campuses shares space with a high school.

       And my least favorite school of all, University of Idaho, just accepted it and didn’t change a thing. I like them a lot better now.

       • Go Vandals!!!! : )

       • “Matt in Idaho says:
         September 22, 2014 at 16:38
         Go Vandals!!!! : )”
         Something tells me they might have a different stand on this issue. Isn’t that the same town that has CD’s the restaurant that gives discounts for open carry? Moscow sounds like a cool place.

5. I had guns in college, so why the heck not?

   • I don’t know how much of the current nonsense was in place in the late 60s in VA, but then that was possibly because I didn’t ask. Yes, I had a gun, sometimes several. In dorms, later in apartments. Today, I wouldn’t ask. I would have a gun.

     One of the guys in my dorm had an M2 carbine hanging on his wall. That’s a select fire .30 M1 carbine. In 1965.

     • Mr. Peabody: “Sherman – set the Way-Back machine for Virginia, 1965!” 😀

     • I was in college in VA in the mid-70s. I have no idea what school policy was, and didn’t care. I didn’t carry on campus, but I sure had my .38SPL handy in my room.

6. I would.

7. Nope. Assuming it was allowed on campus, and for essentially every campus it is not, you still do not have full control of your dorm room. People that you do not know may be coming and going because your roommate has friends over, or is studying, or any of a number of reasons. That means that when “safely” stored in a safe, somebody else may still have access to the safe without your child’s knowledge. Since you cannot get a real safe (i.e. one that bolts to the floor) you are stuck with a number of options that can usually be defeated by simply throwing the safe out a window.

   Long story short, you are burdening them with WAY too much liability because the dorm situation is simply too unpredictable. Now, for off-campus housing, that’s potentially a different story, but you still have to contend with roommates who may or may not act responsibly.

   • +1

   • This. I knew plenty of people in college that had stuff stolen from dorm rooms. College kids will take anything that isn’t bolted down–and if they can pry it loose, it wasn’t bolted down.

     • I will say bullshit to this, especially on my campus. No one wants to bother anyone else’s things here.

       • Then you must be on the one college campus in the nation that doesn’t have a theft problem. Most of the thefts are opportunistic, but the one time you prop a door when you go to the bathroom is inevitably when someone develops sticky fingers.

   • The answer to your objections is on-body carry, not leaving the gun in the dorm room where it will be useless anyway.

     There are some situations that still need to be solved, but no different than having guns in a home with children or even other adults.

     That is, why is a roommate situation different than husband-wife where the wife does not carry, for example? The person responsible for the gun is responsible for the gun, and that is not defined by who else might get to it.

     Make carry legal and not against policy on college campuses and a big part of the problem(s) you describe disappear.

     • A husband-wife scenario is different because (presumably) you have put a bit more effort into selecting your spouse than you did into your roommate. And your spouse is unlikely (hopefully) to have a lot of people running around your house whom you don’t know quite well. This is in contrast to college, where your roommate may be picked for you, a large number of the people that come through your temporary home may only be known to you through a class you happen to share, and you can’t use some of the more secure storage options because you can’t modify the room in any way.

       As for on-body carry, the idea that it will always be on you every time you leave the room is a gross over-simplification. What about when you go to take a shower (since usually there are 1-2 communal bathrooms per floor)? What about if you go out planning to party hard (I certainly hope people aren’t carrying loaded guns while blitzed out of their minds)? What if you are going on a road trip out of state and can’t take it with you? What if you’re going to go play basketball at the gym? In an ideal world, yes, you could carry everywhere you go, but real life, and especially dorm life, is far from ideal. Long story short, married life doesn’t (or at least shouldn’t) involve anywhere near as much disorder and chaos as dorm life. And even if it does, you have a far greater ability to control your immediate environment in a typical post-college living situation than would be the case in a dorm.

       • Don’t go out to “party hard” – see also stupid people, in stupid places, doing stupid things.

         Any of these dorm rooms have “high $” stereo/PC/video/gaming crap in them? A stash?

         Know how to operate a lock?

       • Maybe someone doing all those behaviors is not responsible enough to have a gun, so that kind of takes care of itself given my comment. A responsible person is a responsible person.

         If a person wants to carry a firearm, they may need to grow up a little bit. If they don’t want to body carry, having a gun in the dorm is pointless anyway from a self defense perspective. Might as well leave it at Mom and Dad’s, no?

   • Most dorms are one step above a bus station. You’d be foolish to leave your luggage unattended in a bus station. Similarly, trying to keep a firearm in the typical dormitory is just asking for trouble. Just as a musician how difficult it is to keep people’s hands off a very expensive guitar when living in a dorm.

8. Daughter has just started high school but she’s already decided that she wants to live off-campus at college so she can have a gun.

   I would be happy to supply the firearm.

9. I had a handgun and a CPL when I was in college. In addition my college had an on campus shooting range where I could use it.

10. I go to the University of Wyoming. Despite being a very gun-friendly state with Constitutional carry, we can’t carry on campus. I just turned 21 and will be carrying everywhere I can around town. Until then my AR-15 will take care of home-defense (I’m off campus)

11. He’s a reserve deputy so he has his.

    • Glad he’s able to carry his – there are a number of universities that won’t even allow commissioned LEOs to possess firearms on campus unless they are performing their “official duties.”

12. As a college student I believe we should be allowed to have guns or any defense weapons for that matter(looking at you England). I’m an adult, I should be allowed the same ability to defend myself as any other law abiding adult would be given. Because at the end of the day the police are going to respond in the same amount of time as city or state police, and in that time I could easily be killed or seriously injured. I will not be taken advantage of because I am getting an education.

    • +1, from another college student.

    • +2 from a second student.

    • +1 from someone that has not been a student for over 20 years.

    • +3 from a third college student.

    • No on campus rentacops Rambos with Glocks, ARs and an MRAP? Your school is behind the 8ball.

    • +1, there were definitely times where I wished I had a gun. Will be getting one when I go back for grad school.

    • +1 From someone who dreamed about graduating from college, while asleep in class…

13. Hmmm…one of my sons yes. The other one NO. It’s a judgement thing & maturity issue. My oldest college age
    son could get his own gun( but has “issues”). He does carry a pepper blaster and a knife.

    • With you, FWW. My daughter has pepper spray and a dog. For now. Once she proves sufficient control of both firearm, the law and self, then she’ll get a CCP and a suitable firearm.

    • You’re confusing me. Everytown for Mom’s Responsible Violence Center says all college students have judgment problems, so no guns. Oh, and also all vets. And all men (and women) under and over 40.

      • Except on Tuesdays, after dark.

        (A nod to Matt in Florida)

14. Unfortunately I am in Ohio, so that is a no go. I could bring it with me, but if I ever used it, they would expel me. That is just something they won’t debate, and it is crap.

    • How draconian, dracon1201…

      (rimshot)

15. I live in Florida, and up until three months ago was a student at FGCU. Florida law allows students to carry weapons in their vehicles only, to be left there upon going to class or anywhere else on campus, yet while that may perhaps be better than nothing, cars have been broken into on campus quite often and it would have me on edge the entire time I was away from my own car. Still, there have been several sexual assaults on campus (as I’m sure there have been on almost any college campus) as well as the murder of a female student. That alone is enough to convince me that concealed carry should be allowed on college campuses by those students who, as United States citizens under the Second Amendment, have proven themselves reasonable enough to do so. As for my own son, who is only one at the moment, if the law changes and he shows himself responsible enough, and there was a viable way for him to secure it when it was not on his immediate person, then yes, i would purchase a pistol for him to carry with him at school. I’ve also met college students I wouldn’t trust with a stapler, so there you have it.

16. Why would you send your kid to college? Very few benefit from it.

    • I would argue that there are a lot of engineers and doctors who have benefited greatly by going to college. Not all of us are majoring in underwater basket weaving.

      • However the majority are taking useless BS majors.

        The engineers will be returning to China with their US education to work for the PLA.

17. What do you mean “would I?”

    My college-kid HAS a gun, and so will the next one in line, and the next one.

    Aside from having a gun, they’ve received qualified training.

18. Would I give my freshman daughter a gun? I’m waiting for her to make it through the first year that requires her to live on campus just so that she can move out into an apartment next year and own the gun I’ve already bought for her and trained her on.

19. When I moved into my second apartment in college, as soon as I told my father what part of town it was in he got up, left the room, and came back with a pistol, spare mag and box of ammo. “Give them back when you move,” he told me. While it wasn’t technically mine, this was the first pistol I “owned”.

20. Would I give my responsible college age adult child a personal defense firearm? I believe a better question to ask is why wouldn’t a concerned parent give their responsible college age adult child a personal defense firearm.

21. Yes and did. The right-, libertarian-leaning one was tickled to receive an AK. The leftist (now self-proclaimed Progressive but really a statist) was eager to receive a shotgun when rapists were roaming her community. I loaned her a single-shot 20-gauge, because she was too far away to teach her properly…and I wasn’t gonna give her a $1,500 over/under. In the one training session he forgot to cock it. I offered to write COCK on the stock. But she refused.

22. As a college student I would say yes, if the kid is responsible and knows how to handle them (which most college students who want guns are). I am forced to live in off campus housing were they don’t allow guns, I still have 4 in my apartment though. I do this for a couple reasons, 1. its a stupid rule and doesn’t stop bad things from happening, 2. shooting is my passion, not only that its a stress reliever for me, if I have a bad day/week a few hours shooting can fix that for me.

23. Your high school age young’un doesn’t already own at least a long gun on which they have been trained????? Really? What are/have you been waiting for?

    Can assume they will have some kind of graduation/right of passage ceremony before they head off to ole Univ of XYZ. Take the occasion to properly equip the kid.

24. This forward thinking by the college is perfect. In one fell swoop they have prohibited criminals from bearing weapons of any type. That campus must be one of the safest places in the world…

25. Hard to say. I hope I would have raised my kid well enough to be responsible enough. I wouldn’t trust the guys in my frat with a water gun, much less the real thing…

26. When I was in college, I willfully ignored the rule. I would expect no less
    from my kids when I have them. The school I went to wasn’t completely
    against firearms and would allow firearms on campus as long as you
    dropped them off at the campus security building. Ironically enough,
    most of the kids I knew with guns (rifles and shotguns, handguns were
    kept in the dorm rooms regardless) refused to check them in because
    of the caliber of people hired on as “security”.

27. My son is a big guy, who delivers pizzas, so yeah, I’ve given him a gun, because only really desperate or crazy people would try to rob or assault him. Of course he keeps in his vehicle, because it would be wrong, wrong I tell you, to violate campus rules and have it on him or in his dorm room.

28. IUPUI is a free fire zone, so my daughter cannot even have a knife or any other type of weapon.

29. Give? No. He already has several of his own, including the Rossi .410/22lr single he got for his 8th birthday, so yea, I would. Boy, that went sideways in a hurry.

30. If I could legally let my daughter have her G17 at her university I would give it to her in a heartbeat.
    Sunday she sent me a text with a photo attached from her Law Enforcement Tactical Operations course.
    It was a picture of a silhouette target with 6 rounds in the 10 ring. None outside of the 10 either.
    She was shooting a G19 on the police range in the city where she goes to school.
    She is on the university’s student escort patrol.
    It is a division of the university police department.

31. Yes, I would, and yes I did. He lives off campus.

32. Talk is cheap, watch what they do.

    Another example of people willing to sacrifice others for their own agendas. College administrators and professors to the front of the line. That’s right, just behind the politicians and lawmakers.

33. My college “kid” already carries. He has for two years. Too bad he has to leave his “life insurance policy” in the car when he goes on campus. He goes to the range on a regular basis with his mom.

34. Of course

35. «Students of all genders…»
    Both. Students of both genders. Easy to see why they won’t allow guns on campus: Stupid university.

Comments are closed.