With a new state law that went into effect Tuesday, concealed carry permit owners are now legally allowed to bring handguns onto UNC’s and other public universities’ campuses.
The new law establishes a gun control policy that will almost certainly lead to more issues than it solves and should be reassessed.
In passing the law this summer, the N.C. General Assembly blatantly ignored the opposition of UNC-system officials and campus police chiefs across the state.
Proponents of the law senselessly argue that it merely allows legal gun owners to exercise an already-permitted right that will lead to increased campus safety. This is an attitude that seemingly promotes a vigilante approach that could potentially compromise campus safety.
Law enforcement officers are trained and prepared to use firearms to diffuse a situation only as a means of last resort. Many concealed carry permit owners lack this same sort of training, and it is absurd to suggest that their involvement would not cause problems to arise.
In order to act defensively, gun owners would be required to return to their car to retrieve their weapon — a trip that would take too much time and potentially land them in the line of fire, actively decreasing overall safety.
This law needs to be re-evaluated.
The N.C. General Assembly needs to establish a joint task force with the UNC system and campus police departments to create a comprehensive plan that will assess the law and its effects.
If the law is indeed flawed, a retroactive approach to dealing with it will be too late.
