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Liberty University chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr. said officials heard both sides of a debate about whether to allow concealed weapons on campus before deciding against it.
Liberty University police officers will remain the only people allowed to carry firearms on campus, but that could change in the future, LU’s board of trustees decided Tuesday.
Board members, at Liberty for a regularly scheduled meeting, decided to continue to not allow people with concealed handgun permits to carry weapons on campus.
Chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr. had brought the matter before the board after members of Liberty’s chapter of Students for Concealed Carry on Campus requested a change in policy.
“The feeling was that, unlike most private property owners, we have our own police force,” Falwell said after the meeting. “So the decision was made, since crime has not really been a problem at LU, not to make any changes to the policy at this time.
“The board did express a willingness to look at, especially faculty and staff being allowed to carry concealed weapons in the future, should they determine that it was needed for enhanced security.”
Currently, the university does not allow those with concealed weapons permits to carry a gun on campus.
Prior to the meeting Tuesday, Clint Armstrong, a Liberty student and campus leader for the school’s chapter of SCCC, delivered a formal petition to Falwell with 597 signatures from students, parents and alumni in support of allowing concealed carry on campus.
The local student group has about 700 members, while the organization boasts more than 37,000 members nationally, according to the official Web site.
After the board’s decision, Armstrong said the group remains convinced that allowing permitted concealed carry “is the best decision to keep the campus safe.”
“Criminals are there to commit some other heinous crime,” he said. “They aren’t concerned about breaking a university law that doesn’t allow concealed carry.”
Falwell said the board considered both that perspective and opinions from other students and faculty.
“We’ve received a lot of feedback, and I’d say the majority of the community probably does not support (concealed carry on campus),” Falwell said. “The ones who do support it are very, very committed. And the ones who are against it feel just as strongly.”
He said those against allowing concealed carry “probably outnumber those who do two-to-one.”
“Some of the faculty had commented that they couldn’t imagine anything worse than students packing heat while they were handing out grades,” Falwell said.
He said that most board members also came to the meeting Tuesday with an opinion.
“I’ve never seen the board so engaged in discussing any other issue,” he said.
“The biggest concern was, I think, 21-year-old permit holders. If they live in the dorm, they (would) still have to keep the gun in the dorm, and the chances of it falling into the wrong hands was a concern of the board members.”
The board of trustees has 38 members, but “we didn’t have that many today because of the weather,” Falwell said. The board includes Falwell and his brother Jonathan, pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church.
Although board members did not take an official vote, Falwell said, they did reach a consensus to continue the current policy.
Neal Askew, a member of the executive committee of the board of trustees, supported that decision when reached for comment Tuesday evening.
“My background is law enforcement with the Houston police department for many years,” he said. “I personally feel like it has to be controlled, and the right people trained (to carry firearms),” he said.
“At this point in time, we feel very comfortable with our police department,” he said.
Utah is the only state that does not allow any of its nine public universities to restrict people from carrying concealed weapons on campus.
Currently, Texas lawmakers also are considering allowing people with handgun permits to carry firearms on college campuses.
Reader Reactions
First to Bizzaro- Great point. I hate the fact that anti-gun advocates continue to think that they need to strip everyone of their rights in order to keep those same law abiding citizens safe.
Second to Damalama- You obviously are as pig headed as you claim us LU students are. To say that we are challenged for having a belief system is ridiculous and moronic in the extreme. And with the monogram, its LU property… dont like it close your eyes.
And the terrorists that attacked our nation on 9/11 did NOT apply for a concealed weapons permit which at the time would have been harder to get than to get into the country so to compare that to AMERICAN citizens that are actually eligible for CCW is ludicrous and irrelevant.
Hey damalama that’s not a brand on the mountain it’s a tattoo. Lynchburg’s own trampstamp. I think it ironic that real snow covered the site of the fake snow still to come. God, what a sense of humor he or she blessed himself or herself with.
So according to Imprimis, all the CCW permit does is have a number of people who probably don’t know you from Adam vouch for your character. I feel better already.
As for being a “law abiding citizen”, I’m pretty sure the guys involved with 9-11 hadn’t broken any law before they plunged some planes into buildings. Just a small reminder how weak the review process actually is.
Now, if you want to undergo an psychological evaluation, post a liability bond, and then undergo a background check then I am all for your right be scared of the world. Otherwise, you are just another potential criminal gun user in my eyes.
damalama,
Your description of LU students describes you perfectly.
Bizarro -
If you’re really “Bizarro” you wouldn’t have such a good argument!
What the anti-gunners don’t know is that in order to receive a Concealed Carry permit in this state, you have to:
1) Apply to the Clerk of the Circuit Court and pay a $50 fee. If the Clerk of the Court knows there’s a reason you shouldn’t be able to apply, it stops there.
2) The application is forwarded to the Commonwealth’s Attorney (prosecutor). If the Commonwealth’s Attorney knows there’s a reason you shouldn’t be able to apply, it stops there.
3) The application is forwarded to the county Sheriff. If the Sheriff believes there’s a reason you shouldn’t be able to apply, it stops there.
4) The application is forwarded to the Judge of the Circuit Court. If the Judge believes there’s a reason you shouldn’t have a permit, it stops there.
As a result, you’ll find that CCW holders are the most law-abiding people in the state - they’ve been passed by the clerk, Sheriff, Prosecutor, and Judge. One of the reasons I have my own permit is to use as a form of ID with law enforcement; they know that if I have the permit, I’m no career criminal and at some level, am a certified Good Guy.
But all of that is so foreign to the anti-gun crowd, they have no idea what they’re talking about.
And you forgot one thing that happened in Utah as a result of being able to carry on campus - there haven’t been any mass killings by a deranged, non-CCW-carrying criminal. Virginia can’t say that.
Hm, I wonder what the title of this piece betrays of “The News & Advance’s” position on this issue? Un-biased journalism at its best (sarcasm)!
Regardless of what this transparent, second-rate journalist would have the reader think, the board did *not* vote to “continue the current policy” on concealed carry at Liberty. On the contrary, they did not vote on the issue at all. Of course, this means that the policy will remain in effect by default, but to say that the board acted deliberately (i.e., “voted”) to keep the policy in place is stretching the facts, to say the least.
As far as the perceived support for and against concealed carry at LU, I would urge anyone who’s interested to check out the respective Facebook groups. The one for concealed carry has almost 700 members. The one against it has 68. So at least among Liberty students, I think it’s pretty clear which view has more support.
Besides numbers, proponents for CC at LU have facts, although unfortunately facts don’t always win. For one, an individual who takes the time and initiative to obtain a concealed carry permit is not the kind of person who would shoot his or her professor in the face for handing out a bad grade. That argument is absurd on so many levels. If someone is insane enough to carry out an act of violence on a professor for giving a bad grade, that person isn’t going to care about whether or not it’s okay to carry a weapon to class.
State schools in Utah (there are 9 I believe) have been allowing concealed carry on campus for years now. Contrary to what the anti-gun zealots want you to believe, “more guns” has resulted in…precisely nothing. No incident of gun violence has been reported since these policies have been in place. It’s really not that incredible when you consider the type of person who is disciplined and responsible enough to obtain a concealed carry permit.
Another quick fact: concealed carry permit holders are *the* most law-abiding citizens in the country. One study found that in Florida, CCW holders were 300 times less likely than the general population to commit a crime. A Texas study found that CCW holders in that state were “5.7 times less likely to commit a violent crime, and 14 times less likely to commit a non-violent offense.“
It seems inconsistent that some people are totally ok with CCW holders in crowded malls and movie theatres, but when it comes to a University classroom they spaz out. What’s so magical about a classroom? If you trust me to have my gun on me while I’m sitting beside you at the movie theatre, why not in the classroom?
When the layers of emotion and media fueled gun paranoia are peeled away, you have facts, and I think the facts speak for themselves.
troywr -
Well, one can’t stop a madman shooter with a concealed earring, or even an openly carried one. Or even TWO. That’s probably why the difference.
THERE ARE JUST AS MANY CRIMINALS WITH CONCEALED WEAPONS PERMITS…THEY JUST HAVENT BEEN CAUGHT DOING A CRIME..LAW ENFORCEMENT KNOWS THAT…SECONDLY ON A CAMPUS WHERE MEN ARENT ALLOWED TO WEAR EARRINGS YOU WANT THEM TO BE ABLE TO HAVE A HANDGUN ON CAMPUS..WOW
LynchburgRes says -“Thus, I am forced to choose between protecting my life and protecting my career.“
Fair enough, and I certainly support your right to your opinion as to which is more important.
I would make a different decision, however.
LynchResident I think you are absolutely correct. Its a shame that such a choice must be made especially when legal carriers such as ourselves are being denied our right to do so. And lets face it, this is not a high stress University such as VT is. I do not foresee it being an issue with students going nuts on campus and misusing their Concealed Weapons.
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