WDBJ7 Roanoke News and Weather NRV Lynchburg Danville | College student starts a movement to allow guns on college campuses
Member Center:
While efforts to allow students and faculty with concealed permits to carry on campus is not new, the tragedy at Virginia Tech is inspiring an organized movement among students.
Twenty-five-year-old Andrew Dysart spent four years in the Marine Corps. He is now studying criminal justice at George Mason University. After April 16th, Dysart, a concealed gun permit holder, started wondering how he would defend himself on his campus. His curiosity led him to start Students for Concealed Carry.
"We believe that students with concealed handgun permits should be allowed to carry their handguns on campus, just like they're allowed to anywhere else in the state," says Dysart.
Many students carry concealed weapons off-campus without incident every day. Dysart does not believe they should be forced to disarm at school. He has also heard from students at other schools, including Virginia Tech, interested in starting their own movements. His group now has 55 members.
Dysart does not know if a concealed permit holder could have helped save lives at Virginia Tech.
"But I do think those students should have had a chance. If they've been through the training, they should have had that chance on campus. That's a chance that Virginia Tech didn't give them. That's a chance that George Mason doesn't give me," says Dysart.
Efforts to allow concealed carry on campuses have been swiftly killed by a House of Delegates Committee for two years now, partly because many college administrators do not like the idea.
The Virginia Tech Review panel will hold its final meeting Wednesday.
