Last month, I told you about several bills in the Missouri General Assembly that would allow individuals with concealed carry permits to carry firearms on campus. Last week, I testified in the state Senate in opposition to these bills. I was joined by other higher education leaders from southwest Missouri and from across the state.
Why MSU is opposed to this legislation
I recognize that the supporters of these bills have campus safety in mind. However, I testified that I had concerns that allowing anyone with a concealed carry permit to have a firearm on campus would make our campus less safe.
I was proud to reference the many initiatives and programs we have at Missouri State designed to keep our students safe:
- Table top emergency simulations
- ALICE (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate) Training, which informs all members of the University how to respond if there is an armed intruder
- The Shots Fired video that is available for all members of the University community to watch at any time
- The Safe Walk program that provides anyone on campus with a security officer to escort them when it’s dark outside
- Our Missouri State Alert notification system that will send an emergency warning over speakers across campus as well as through text messages and phone calls to members of the University community
- A Springfield Police Department Substation located on our campus in addition to our University safety and transportation department
- Over 500 security cameras on campus that are monitored by a safety officer 24 hours per day, seven days per week
With these (and many other) safety protocols in place, I believe the risks of broadly allowing firearms throughout campus outweighs the potential benefits.
Provide feedback on the bills
The bills that I testified on are Senate Bills 589 and 731. The bills are currently pending before the Senate Transportation, Infrastructure and Public Safety Committee. If you would like to share your views on these bills, I know the members of that committee would be glad to hear your opinion.
Contact information for each committee member can be found on each member’s individual website, which you can navigate to by clicking on the member’s name on the roster linked above.
Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!
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