Campus Carry Attitudes Revisited: Variations within the University Campus Community

ABSTRACT

This study examined attitudes toward campus carry – a policy that would permit individuals to carry concealed firearms on a university’s grounds if they possess a permit. Survey data were collected from a sample of 1,380 members of a campus community – undergraduate students, graduate students, faculty, and staff – at a medium-sized public university in Pennsylvania whose legislation leaves the decision of campus carry up to the institutions. The majority of the sample reported non-supportive attitudes toward the implementation of campus carry. However, the degree of support and general attitudes toward the policy varied with undergraduate students having the most supportive attitudes of campus carry, followed by graduate students, staff, and then faculty. Certain demographic variables along with other campus-related variables, such as a fear of victimization, predicted campus carry attitudes. The research findings are discussed in terms of both research and policy implications.

KEYWORDS:

• Campus carry policies
• concealed carry of firearms on campus
• school safety
• Pennsylvania

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Matthew R. Hassett

Matthew R. Hassett, Ph.D. is an assistant professor in the department of sociology and criminal justice at The University of North Carolina at Pembroke. He has recently published works on the topics of immigration and crime rates, as well as the impact of federal legislation on correctional policies in the United States. His primary research interests include criminal justice policy, criminological theory, and pedagogical practices.

Bitna Kim

Bitna Kim, Ph.D. is a professor in the department of criminology and criminal justice and co-director of the Center for Research in Criminology at Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP). Specific areas of interest include a systemic review and meta-analysis of the risk factors and intervention/programs, evidence-based programs, policies, and practices, multi-agency partnerships, and international/comparative criminology and criminal justice.