Munzlinger seeks to allow concealed firearms on campuses

The bill comes a year after the Northern Illinois University shootings.

By Eva Dou

Published Feb. 16, 2009

A year after a gunman fatally shot five students at Northern Illinois University, a former MU student's bill to allow concealed firearms on Missouri college campuses has reached the state legislature.

Rep. Brian Munzlinger, R-Williamstown, sponsored the bill, which would remove state universities from the list of locations where concealed firearms are prohibited. Concealed carry is allowed in most public places in the state.

MU graduate Paul Ready said he began lobbying for the bill shortly after the NIU shootings.

"The scenario of that shooting was really kind of chilling because the guy walked into a lecture hall with a guitar case, pulled out a shotgun and just started shooting people," he said. "I had a big lecture in Cornell Hall at the time and it really brought it home to me because I saw myself on the receiving end of this scenario."

Ready responded by founding the MU chapter of Students for Concealed Carry on Campus. He approached Munzlinger last year with three versions of his bill.

Munzlinger introduced the least stringent version last week.

Ready said this bill would allow those with a permit to carry concealed firearms on college campuses, although administrators could ban them inside university buildings. He had hoped for a tougher version that would deny schools this ability.

MU Police Department Chief Jack Watring said the bill made him uneasy.

"If there are people in a 500-student auditorium, how do you know who's the good guys and who's the bad guys when guns are displayed?" said Watring, who sits on the Chancellor's Safety Committee.

Watring said he does not believe the bill would make students safer. He pointed out most students are younger than 23, the required age for a permit.

Some local legislators also oppose the bill.

"I think that's a terrible idea," Rep. Mary Still, D-Columbia, said. "I don't think we need more guns in schools."

Still said Republican legislators were touting gun issues to reactivate their constituent base following the election.

Rep. Chris Kelly, D-Columbia, said campus gun regulations should be left to universities.

"This is not something where the legislature needs to get involved," Kelly said.

Supporters of the bill maintain it would let students protect themselves on a campus of more than 30,000 students and 20 police officers.

"When you have a gun ban in place, it's just an invitation to criminals," Munzlinger said.

Majority Floor Leader Steven Tilley, R-Perryville, also supports the bill, legislative assistant Leann Hager said.

As for whether students could feel safe knowing anyone around them could be carrying a gun, Ready said the outcry would be short-lived since concealed carry is already legal in most public places in the state.

"That's the beauty of concealed weapons," Ready said. "They're out of sight, out of mind. I don't think anyone would even notice."

MU College Republicans Chairman Jonathan Ratliff, who is the Students for Concealed Carry on Campus MU chapter president, said the group is planning a campaign to raise awareness of the bill among students next month.

The university prohibits weapons on campus unless they are registered with MUPD, Watring said.