Imagine eating at Burger King in the University Center West when a student walks through the doors with a gun holstered on his hip. Heads would turn, mouths would drop and some students would run in the opposite direction. But such a sight would not be uncommon under proposed Indiana Senate Bill No. 0181.
The bill was authored by Sen. Jim Banks and Sen. Dennis Kruse, both of representatives of Indiana’s northeast districts. If passed, the bill would allow anyone with a valid license to openly carry a loaded firearm on state property, including a college campus.
The bill was first proposed Jan 4 and referred to the Indiana judiciary committee for review. If enacted, the bill would become effective July 1.
Criminal justice studies assistant professor Melissa Stacer said she would expect two distinct groups of people to form on campus.
“Those who carry and feel safer because of it, and those who see the guns and worry,”Stacer said. “Anytime there’s no regulation, especially of firearms, there’s always concern that someone may use them illegally.”
Indiana already has codes in place that allow those with valid licenses to publicly carry unconcealed firearms. Now that those codes may be visible in a classroom setting, concerns arise. Stacer said the reaction of one student to another student carrying a gun in class is not conducive to learning.
“With this idea of appropriate use, that people are carrying to portray the image of being threatening, that kind of response in an educational environment is cause for concern,” Stacer said.
Stacer said she could not foresee many students at USI openly carrying a firearm. As a teacher, she would not feel a great need to address the issue in class if the majority of her students were not openly carrying a weapon.
“A lot of students avidly hunt or shoot for sport,” Stacer said. “For them, it’s recreational and this is enhancing their recreation.”
As the bill is still early in the process, administrative bodies can only speculate the consequences and how they would handle it.
Stephanie Deig, SGA’s academic affairs administrative vice president, said SGA would be more than happy to “sponsor gun safety classes or workshops” if the classes were necessary.
“Many will see this as a triumph that defends our second amendment rights and allow us to defend ourselves if necessary,” the sophomore German and political science major said. “Others will see this as a dangerous policy which may increase the amount of violent incidents that occur in these environments.”
Because it is so hard to predict the actual consequences of the bill, Deig said it would serve as an interesting social experiment across the state,but would still urge students to leave security up to Public Safety.
“Public Safety works very hard in order to keep this campus safe and will continue to do so if this type of legislation is passed,” she said.
Students’ concern for the issue varied.
“As long as they still have to do a background check for the license, I could deal with it,” sophomore math education major Jennifer Tillman said.
“I think it’s scary, some person could just freak out and start shooting,” freshman undecided major Pevky Bvlavgava said.
Other students cited self-defense as a campus concern.
Undecided Freshman Kelly York said if a smaller person like her was attacked, the bill would give her the ability to protect herself.
But the aspect of self-defense was not a good enough reason for some students.
“I’d rather taser someone than shoot them,” freshman undecided major Alexis Holbert said. “It seems a little extreme.”
She said even someone with a valid license could just “glitch out” and hurt people.
“If it passes, I guess I’ll have to petition for its overturn,” Holbert said.
Security Director Steve Woodall declined to comment on the issue.
The bill is currently in the first House committee awaiting reports.
