Kansas college students will be able to bring guns into classrooms
College campuses in Kansas are preparing for guns in the classrooms. In a little over a year students will be allowed to carry concealed weapons on campus at all six state universities and multiple community colleges and technical schools.
The move has received wide support in the Kansas Legislature which hopes to make schools safer, but college administrators don't agree.
"When a gun is in a school and harm is meant, there is only one thing that is going to stop that, and that is another gun," state Sen. Forrest Knox said during the proposal for the law.
Mike Williams, president of the University of Kansas Faculty Senate, told NPR that administrators and professors are more concerned about violence escalating between students than an active shooter. He also said the law could cause students to fear speaking their minds "because of their worry that someone might react with armed violence instead of thoughtful debate."
Williams isn't the only one to disagree with the law. A survey of more than 20,000 Kansas Board of Regents employees found that 82 percent said would feel less safe if students were allowed to carry guns on campus.
The survey also found these key results:
Nearly half of respondents believe that the law would increase campus crime levels
44 percent of respondents are concerned that they will need to change how they conduct their research if guns are allowed on campus
More than half of respondents believe that allowing guns on campus would negatively impact the service and outreach work they conduct
Two-thirds of respondents said that allowing guns in the classroom limits their academic freedom
Three-fifths of respondents are concerned that they will need to change how they teach their course
The schools do have an expensive alternative. To keep guns out of buildings, every door must have both metal detectors and security guards. According to NPR, one small community college estimated the cost for security for that school alone would be about $20 million.
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