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President Elizabeth Chilton’s opposition to campus carry included a study that found no link to increased crime
New Hampshire lawmakers should vote down campus carry because some people might feel less safe, according to a university president.
Legislators are currently considering House Bill 1793, which would prohibit public universities from regulating guns on campus and establish a commission to study campus carry.
According to a student government survey cited by The New Hampshire, a majority of respondents said they would be less likely to attend UNH if campus carry were allowed. In response to the perceived campus climate, the student senate passed a resolution opposing the bill.
President Elizabeth Chilton also took an institutional stance against the law, sending out both a campuswide message and testifying to the state senate judiciary committee. She (pictured) submitted testimony along with Don Birx, president of Keene State College and Plymouth State University, and Mark Collopy, the police chief for UNH.
They said “research from states that have adopted campus carry has found increased fear of crime, lower perceptions of campus safety, and reduced confidence in campus police.”
But neither study found a link to actual crime and campus carry.
One Injury Epidemiology study examined the effects of permissive campus carry laws on violent crime. Contrary to what Chilton said, however, it “does not find significant changes in crime rates” following implementation of such laws and does not provide “clear evidence for a decrease or increase” in major violent crime on public college campuses.
Another cited study from the Journal of School Violence looked only at campus safety perceptions following Georgia’s campus carry law, not at actual crime data at the institutions.
Chilton’s testimony emphasized perception of safety and argued these feelings form a basis for the well-being and senses of security of UNH’s students, faculty, and staff.
None of either study’s authors responded to The Fix’s requests for information asking their research supports claims that campus carry laws undermine campus safety and how such research was represented in New Hampshire proceedings.
Neither the University System of New Hampshire nor UNH itself responded to multiple comment requests via phone and email in the past two weeks. The Fix asked whether their opposition to campus carry relies more on perception than crime data and how they would adapt if the bill passed.
However, a Second Amendment scholar said carrying guns can be good for reducing crime.
“Adults who may lawfully carry firearms should be free to carry on campus,” Stephen Halbrook wrote in an emailed comment to The Fix. He said students, when carrying, should simply be careful to keep their firearms secure.
The Independent Institute senior fellow said even when guns are banned from certain events, there should be extensive “armed security and screening” since “criminals do not obey “gun-free” zones.” The Second Amendment scholar cited the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre that occurred despite the school’s gun-free policy.
“No adverse impact has been experienced in states where campus carry laws have been implemented,” he said.
Indeed, The College Fix has asked gun rights opponents multiple times for proof that campus carry laws contributed to an increase in crime as they said when opposing legislation in states including Texas.
On both occasions, the professors or schools have either refused to comment, said they did not actually run any follow-up studies or research to look into their own claims, or reported no increase in crime.
Halbrook concluded his comments to The Fix: “Whenever recognition of Second Amendment rights is proposed, anti-gun zealots predict that the sky will fall. It never goes.”
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