College Students and Guns

Most students at 15 Midwestern colleges and universities do not want concealed handguns on their campuses, according to a study from Ball State University. 

The study, “Student Perceptions and Practices Regarding Carrying Concealed Handguns on University Campuses,” found that 78 percent of students surveyed oppose allowing concealed handguns on campuses and would not obtain a permit to carry one, if it were made legal. 

The report is based on a survey of 1,649 undergraduate college students and was published in the Journal of American College Health. 

The study also found that about 16 percent of undergraduate students own a firearm and 20 percent witnessed a crime on campus that involved firearms. 

About 79 percent of students would not feel safe if faculty, students and visitors carried concealed handguns on campus. About 66 percent did not feel that carrying a gun would make them less likely to be troubled by others. Half did not know whether their university had a policy regarding firearms on campus, and most students believed that allowing concealed-carry would increase the rate of suicides and homicides on campus.

“The study also found that students who perceived there to be advantages to carrying concealed handguns on campus were significantly more likely to be males, firearm owners, victims of crime on- or off-campus and binge drinkers,” says study co-author Jagdish Khubchandani, a Ball State professor and member of the university’s Global Health Institute.