Student Perceptions of Armed Campuses: University Major, Constitutional Rights, and Campus Carry Laws

Abstract

This study explored the impact of college major and support for the Constitutional rights to free speech and to bear arms established in the First and Second Amendments on student perceptions of armed campuses using survey methodology. It found that all three variables contribute to students’ perceptions on the impact of campus carry laws. Students with Criminal Justice/Legal Studies related majors were significantly more likely to support the right to bear arms and to support freedom of speech than Journalism/Communications majors. In general, students supported the First Amendment at higher levels than the Second Amendment. A majority of students reported that they would feel less secure if campus carry laws were in place on their campus, agreed that they would change their behavior in the classroom, and agreed that they would refrain from classroom discussions. Individuals who were comfortable with firearms and supported the Second Amendment were less likely to feel that they would change their behaviors on an armed campus, and individuals who supported the First Amendment were more likely to perceive that they would change their behavior with campus carry laws in place. Implications of these findings to policy debates about campus carry laws are discussed.

Keywords:

• Campus carry
• First Amendment
• Second Amendment
• free speech
• right to bear arms
• student perceptions of armed campuses

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 It should be noted that the probit analysis for this table resulted in some minor differences. For example, gun ownership was not significantly related to and major was significantly related to refraining from controversial classroom discussions in the probit model. In both models the significance tests were very close to the P < .05 cutoff point and the actual differences between these models is quite small.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Krystal E. Noga-Styron

Krystal E. Noga-Styron, J.D., Ph.D., is a Professor of Law and Justice at Central Washington University. Her research and scholarship focuses on law and social justice. In particular, she publishes on media representations of crime, capital punishment, gun violence, and other legal issues as they relate to racial and sexual minorities.

Sarah Britto

Sarah Britto, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the School of Public Service and Justice at California State University Dominguez Hills. Her research focuses on the forces that shape crime-related public perceptions, with an emphasis on the role of racialized and gendered media representations. She also conducts research on gender inequality and violent crime, and the use of restorative justice with violent crimes.