Newell’s bill would allow concealed carry on campus
Published: January 31st, 2011
Legislative Staff Release
Published 31-Jan-2011
Under legislation filed by state Rep. Tom Newell, anyone with a license to carry a concealed firearm would be able to possess that firearm on a college or university campus.
“We have the unalienable right to self-defense,” Newell, a Seminole Republican, said. “Our founders understood this and added the Bill of Rights to the Constitution to prevent elitist bureaucrats from denying us of this most basic of human rights. Our wives and husbands, sons and daughters, and mothers and fathers do not give up this right simply because they are on college property.
“The decision to exercise this right does not belong to any editorial board, college president, board of regent, or the chancellor of higher education. The decision to exercise this right belongs solely to the individual.”
Newell, who has taught courses in economics at Seminole State College, noted that Colorado State University has allowed concealed carry on campus since 1995 and Utah has allowed concealed carry on all public colleges in the state since 2006.
“The mentally ill and criminal members of our communities are not stopped by gun laws,” Newell said. “In fact, they are emboldened to know that their potential victims are unarmed. It is shameful, negligent and immoral for us to say that there are only two options when it comes to self-defense on a college campus – cower in fear and wait for the police to show up, or run.”
The Oklahoma Legislature will convene on February 7.