Concealed carry permit owners will now legally be allowed to bring handguns onto UNC-CH’s and other public universities’ campuses, as a new state law goes into effect today.
But private colleges and universities in the state can still enforce their own campus gun policies — and Duke University, Elon University and Meredith College have all indicated that they will continue to ban guns.
The law allows concealed carry permit holders to bring a gun onto a campus as long as the weapon is stored in a closed compartment or container within a locked car. The car must be in a public parking area.
The law had been opposed by UNC-system officials and campus police chiefs across the state prior to being passed by the N.C. General Assembly this summer.
Advocates of the law have said it will allow legal gun owners to exercise an already-permitted right and will lead to increased safety on campuses.
But Randy Young, spokesman for UNC-CH’s Department of Public Safety, said law enforcement officers already tasked with protecting the campus community could potentially do it better than a citizen with a firearm on campus.
“Law enforcement officers have training and equipment for alternatives to using firearms, such as tasers,” Young said. “Not every firearm owner has those alternatives to diffuse a situation available to them.”
Still, Young said the law will be enforced on campus, and it impacts a limited number of people in specific circumstances.
“We have some major concerns about weapons on campus,” Young said. “But it needs to be clarified that this applies to a very small number of situations.”
