The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is trumpeting the results of their latest poll indicating that 54% of Georgia voters oppose allowing concealed carry on previously gun-free college campuses with only 43% supporting. While that’s an accurate analysis of the current numbers it doesn’t tell the whole story, specifically the trend established by a similar poll by the same organization three years prior.

In 2014 the AJC poll indicated that 78% of voters opposed campus carry, with only 20% in favor. The latest poll shows a 23 percentage point increase in support and a 28 percentage point decrease in opposition, a significant trend seeming to indicate that Georgia voters are warming to the idea.

Campus carry has been a popular topic for gun rights supporters who believe that the right to keep and bear arms enshrined by the Second Amendment shouldn’t stop at the boundary of a college campus. The belief is that placing an armed individual in an active shooter situation could save lives by ending the incident quicker and provide added security for the other students. College campuses across the United States have been slowly moving in that direction, allowing concealed carry in isolated instances. There have been no instances of accidental or intentional shootings by concealed carry holders on college campuses since relaxation of the policies, an indication that the worst fears of gun control activists are unfounded.

Texas is the latest state to permit concealed carry on college campuses. Despite heavy opposition from some teachers and students the law will remain in place through at least the next two years. The hope among gun rights folks is that the practice of carrying at school (by properly licensed individuals) will become common and accepted, eliminating the taboo currently associated. Polls like the one in Georgia indicate that the more colleges make the swap, the more that change influences other states to join.

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15 COMMENTS

    • Don’t forget they are protecting their right to engage in a time-honored college tradition: consequence-free rape. DAWGS don’t want armed women on campus because it makes it harder to hunt them, although most of those pictured probably aren’t even old enough to own a handgun or have a concealed carry license.

      My perspective is that college campuses are still on American soil and should respect American laws. If they want to ban guns kept in their dorms and housing that’s one thing, they can control the kiddies all they want, but telling outsiders they can’t carry because underage kids drink and do drugs at college is preposterous. But we know it’s not really about safety, it’s about control and continuing the “safe space” nonsense that keeps “kids” helpless until their mid 30’s. Newsflash: the real world isn’t a safe space.

    • You know the funniest bit about this photo? The kids are out in front of the Arch which puts them in the Right of Way of Broad Street. Not off limits to carry. I don’t know why I find that funny, except that it’s my Alma Mater. Also, the snowflakes are concentrated on North Campus, if you go below the creek onto South Campus, you’ll find right minded folk. Hell, we used to go out shooting with professors.

  6. “The belief is that placing an armed individual in an active shooter situation could save lives…”

    I think focusing too much on “active shooter” type situations is a mistake for the campus carry movement. I think more inroads can be made focusing less on black swan events and more on the daily occurrence of violent crime on and around college campuses. Every large college campus I’ve ever been to has some sketchy areas nearby (often near where off-campus student housing is concentrated) where the criminal element knows it’s got easy pickings on a mostly defenseless victim pool.

    Just being a college student shouldn’t mean that you give up your right to not be robbed, beaten, or raped.

  7. It’s ironic to me that many of the people who think that the majority should dictate what rights the population may or may not exercise as well as where and when they may or may not exercise those rights are the exact same people who found slavery and segregation so abhorrent even though those things, at one time, enjoyed popular support.

    While I don’t generally try to figure out the logic, or lack thereof, when it comes to Lefties, it’s amazing to me how happy they are to openly cherry pick when the Constitution applies and when it doesn’t. To them, a state was totally in the wrong when it came to segregation and fedgov was totally right to force desegregation on the states where segregation was popular, but when a state tries to comply with the 2A to the best of it’s ability suddenly a lot of those same people get their panties in a wad that the majority of the state, according to polling isn’t getting their way.

    It must be nice to be so fluid in your thinking about what is and what is not a “right” and when and where you should have it. Very convenient to always get your way even if it’s only in your own head.

    • It’s pretty funny to see all the so-called liberals suddenly rediscovering the idea that no, the federal government can’t just do whatever it wants whenever it wants, that state and local governments are important, and that publicly disagreeing with your government is patriotic, nay, a moral necessity.

  8. The funny thing about ‘rights’ is that our government should be protecting the rights of the people (even if it is a minority of people) from the political whims of the majority. So……. it doesn’t matter what the polls say, if 99.99% of the people want to trample the rights of the 0.01%, in a perfect world the government would tell the majority nope, not gonna happen….

    • More people do not understand this “law” than we can imagine. I’ll take a shot at it though. I’d guess that 75% of the U.S. population believe that the majority rules. They believe that we are a Democracy rather than a Republic form of government. And a larger number than that believe we should be a Democracy.

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