Policies Addressing Guns on Campus. Policy Snapshot

Ensuring the safety and security of students is vital to creating a positive learning environment. Active shooter situations at postsecondary institutions resulted in about 150 casualties between 2000 and 2017. This prevalence of gun violence at postsecondary institutions, which is often viewed in the context of larger conversations around gun violence and mass shootings, has resulted in a policy debate over the most effective ways to maintain campus safety. A key facet of this debate is the possession of firearms on campus. Currently, 22 states explicitly prohibit the possession of firearms at postsecondary institutions, while eight states allow individuals to carry a concealed firearm on campus. The issue has been deliberated at the institutional and system levels, in state legislatures and in state courts. Over the past several years, two common themes in legislative proposals have been gun possession -- especially who may possess and when -- and gun storage. This Policy Snapshot provides a summary of legislative activity pertaining to these issues from the 2018 and 2019 legislative sessions.