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Guns on campus? College presidents say no thanks, study says

Stephanie Wang
stephanie.wang@indystar.com
Gun

Will a second Ball State University study that shows overwhelming support for college firearm bans stymie perennial efforts in the Indiana General Assembly to allow guns on college campuses?

For the past few years, Republican lawmakers have introduced bills to allow legal gun owners to carry their weapons at public universities — even though for at least three years in a row, none of the proposals have advanced to a single hearing.

The study released this week by Ball State researcher Jagdish Khubchandani surveyed 401 college presidents, who overwhelmingly responded that they want gun-free campuses.

In the survey, 95 percent opposed allowing concealed handguns on campus. Nearly all of them said they thought students and faculty felt safe on campus, and 92 percent said people would feel unsafe if their campuses permitted firearms.

Under Indiana state law, public colleges can prohibit weapons on their properties, and many do — including Indiana University, Purdue University, Ball State University and Ivy Tech Community College.

It's worth noting, too, that Khubchandani found most of the presidents surveyed — 79 percent of them — did not own a firearm. More than half of them grew up in a home without a gun, and only 5 percent held a permit to carry a concealed handgun.

State Rep. Jim Lucas, R-Seymour, an ardent supporter of gun rights, expressed skepticism over the study: "It would be interesting to see how the questions were phrased," he said. "You can set up a study to arrive at any outcome you want."

He remained coy on whether he would ask to re-examine the issue in the 2015 legislative session. But he was not deterred from bringing it up this year, even after another study last fall by Khubchandani showed most college students also don't want firearms on campus.

That bill met its usual demise, but Lucas was able to push another piece of legislation through last session to de-criminalize having firearms in locked vehicles on school property — a move he touted as a convenience to parents with gun permits who drop their children off at school.

He also recently erupted over a gun-control comment by a father whose son was killed in a mass shooting.

Call Star reporter Stephanie Wang at (317) 444-6184. Follow her on Twitter: @stephaniewang.