Guns on Campus? WA Lawmakers Hear Arguments On Both Sides

GOVERNMENT 

By Austin Jenkins

Olympia, WA  February 7, 2008 2:37 p.m.

Gun rights advocates in Washington turned out in force Thursday for a legislative hearing on whether people who have concealed weapon permits should be allowed to take their guns on college campuses. Olympia correspondent Austin Jenkins reports.

Generally, it’s thought that guns and schools don’t go together. But gun supporters say that’s turned college campuses into victim zones - places where everyone is unarmed except the bad guy.

Dozens turned out to testify in favor of legislation sponsored by State Senator Pam Roach. The Republican’s bill says Washington colleges and universities may not ban licensed concealed weapons from campus.

Brian Judy with the NRA invoked the most recent high-profile campus shooting.
 
Brian Judy: “I want to make sure that the record clearly reflects that Virginia Tech was a gun free zone and the result was painfully predictable. Only the victims were gun free and when seconds counted help was only minutes away.”

A proposal by State Senator Ed Murray, a Seattle Democrat, would do the opposite. His bill would ban all guns from college campuses where high school students take classes. Neither bill is expected to pass this year.

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