Guns on West Virginia Campuses

There’s a certain arrogance among gun owners. Not all gun owners, but those who put their belief in the 2nd Amendment above the concerns of the population. These are the gun owners that want to eliminate controls over gun ownership and gun carry. They’re the people who argue, against all the evidence, that guns “save lives.” 

In 2024 as of July 1 based on a legislative action taken last year, concealed carry of guns on college campuses in West Virginia will be a given. In signing the bill into law Governor Justice said he was “proud” to sign it. That pride is one example of the arrogance of gun owners. 

Another indication of that arrogance is the fact that the law doesn’t say anything about increasing police security for students and staff. Many of these people feel threatened about the crooks and crazies that will take advantage of being able to bring a concealed weapon onto campus. 

When Justice signed the law, he was attended at the signing by members of the NRA, legislators who had sponsored and passed the bill, and members of the Citizens Defense League, a pro-gun lobbying group. Absent were those opposed to the law, as you would expect. 

The justification for the law by its supporters holds that it would increase safety, and in believing that assumption they named it the Campus Self Defense Act. The idea was that gun carriers could defend themselves, but from who?  Shooters, robbers, bad people – people that the police are hired to deal with? 

Those who opposed the law included campus police and college administrators at many of the universities to be impacted by it. Their concerns were understandably focused on safety issues too, but from the perspective of those who would feel threatened by the law, more than by the bad guys. 

They also considered the actual danger of live gun use on campus should one of those carriers find reason to use their weapon. Even if the legal gun carrier is justified in using their weapon in self defense, bullets go astray. Maybe they’re not that great a shot. More guns, more danger. It makes sense.

The law itself doesn’t acknowledge the collateral implications of more guns on campus. So, for example, campuses might feel it important to increase their police presence in anticipation of violations of carry regulations, not to mention also increase their liability insurance in the case of injury or death or damage to property. These are financial concerns not currently budgeted for.

The governor tried to offer some assurance to those in opposition to the law saying that “We just hope and pray that there's never a problem.” Here’s the law. Let’s hope it works. Hopes and prayers as a deterrent to “bad actors” in other words. Those would be the same hopes and prayers that have been solemnly made after all previous mass shootings. You've got to wonder if they're working.

A BestCollege survey in 2022 found that 65% of surveyed college students were worried about guns on campus. Given the prevalence of shooting on college campuses (in 2023 there were 13 shootings that killed 19 people), their worries are understandable. Everytown for Gun Safety additionally notes the statistic that 60% of gun deaths are suicides. Suicide being the second leading cause of death in college students., more guns will likely mean more suicides. 

But you have to understand that all mass shootings leave other victims in their wake, not just the dead. These are the physically injured, who often face expensive and lasting medical bills. In this case “injured” is a pretty weak word. It’s not the word to use when the injury lasts a lifetime or disables a victim. The FBI doesn’t include the emotionally injured in its statistics, but they are victims as well. They can experience symptoms ranging from PTSD to just looking over their shoulders for the rest of their lives. 

But hopes and prayers aside, the governor then diluted his weak assurance by saying “We can't ensure in any way that there won't be a problem.” So the governor is nodding towards the reality. He’s evidently seen the statistics that show a pattern of increasing gun violence in this century. Just in the 8 years between 2014 and 2022 there was a 240 percent increase in mass shootings, according to the Gun Violence Archive. In those years, we went from 273 to 647. The trend is not heading down either. It’s just that the legislature and he are helpless to solve such problems. Hope and pray harder in other words.

I know the reality of guns in America today, the 2nd Amendment guarantee and all, and I respect that reality for the sake and interests of legitimate gun owners. But when we talk of the “pride” that gun owners and the governor feel about that part of our Constitution, shouldn’t that pride and the privilege attending on it come with some sense of responsibility? Shouldn’t every right come with assurances for the welfare of those who have been scarred by guns and respect for those who are legitimately fearful of them? Shouldn’t we be decreasing our anxieties, not increasing them?