Talking Stick - May/June 2019 - 16

JUST IN

CAMPUS CARRY DEBATE CONTINUES
West Virginia became the latest state to formally enter the debate
about guns on campus last February when lawmakers approved
a measure, 59-41, that would block colleges and universities from
prohibiting concealed weapons except in certain situations. At press
time, the bill had yet to be addressed by the governor.
Meanwhile, last November the debate took a different turn at the
University of Florida in Gainesville when the campus police department notified the Department of Housing and Residence Education
that it would cease its weapons storage program at the on-campus
police station for liability reasons. The weapons storage had been
utilized by residents, staff, faculty, medical plaza employees, or injured victims who were receiving emergency care and had weapons
on their person. At the time of notification, more than 30 people
living on campus were utilizing weapon storage. In prior years, it
was as high as 70 people. The only storage to be provided going
forward is for emergency care associated with the campus hospitals.
Students, live-in staff, and family members were impacted by this
change, which required them to find off-campus locations before the
start of the new year. This meant they needed to store their personal
weapons off campus or in their vehicle.
While the campus carry debate certainly affects student safety,
live-in staff must also be considered in the conversation. In 2017,
Bemidji State University in Minnesota built an on-campus storage
room for gun owners. The facility stores up to 130 guns, and other
hunting weapons can be stored at no charge in the secure campus
space. Virginia Tech, University of Pittsburgh, Central Washington University, University of South Dakota, and the University of
Colorado-Boulder campus police departments will store firearms for
students and staff. But if these safe locations on campus are taken
away, what happens to these guns? They are often stored in cars or
off campus or could even be stored in places of residence where the
owners hope they will not be discovered.
In addition, some campuses provide gun safe rental programs
for live-in officers or students who are involved in clubs, sports,
police training, or military service. Two examples include Texas
A&M University in College Station and Tarleton State University in
Stephenville, Texas.
Currently, 12 states allow concealed weapons on campuses:
Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Minnesota, Mississippi,
Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Wisconsin. In 22 states,
concealed carry policies are determined by the individual colleges
or universities: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware,
Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Montana, New
Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South
Dakota, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and West Virginia.
-Carolyn Komanski
16

TALKING STICK

Hate Groups Recruiting
on Campuses
Campuses increasingly are targets of white-supremacist propaganda efforts according to a new
report, White Supremacists Step Up Off-Campus
Propaganda Efforts in 2018, from the Anti-Defamation League's Center on Extremism.
The group's 2018 data showed an increase in
the number of on-campus incidents, from 292 to
319, over 2017. The numbers are more startling
overall, with a 182 percent increase in the number
of incidents over 2017: from 421 in 2017 to 1,187
in 2018. According to the ADL website, "the propaganda, which includes everything from veiled
white supremacist language to explicitly racist
images and words, often features a recruitment
element, and frequently targets minority groups,
including Jews, Blacks, Muslims, non-white immigrants and the LGBTQ community." Incidents
mainly occurred in larger cities, with the most
activity occurring in California, Texas, Colorado,
New York, Illinois, Florida, and Virginia.
Tactics often include hanging banners and
posting or distributing fliers and stickers. In its
report, the ADL suggests that such propaganda
efforts, as opposed to rallies or other events, allow
them "to maximize media and online attention,
while limiting the risk of individual exposure, negative media coverage, arrests and public backlash."

Source: https://www.adl.org/resources/reports/
white-supremacists-step-up-off-campuspropaganda-efforts-in-2018

ANNUAL
PROPAGANDA
DISTRIBUTION
COUNTS

292

1187
868

421

319
129

ON CAMPUS

2017

OFF CAMPUS

2018

ALL PROPAGANDA

https://www.adl.org/resources/reports/white-supremacists-step-up-off-campuspropaganda-efforts-in-2018 https://www.adl.org/resources/reports/white-supremacists-step-up-off-campuspropaganda-efforts-in-2018 https://www.adl.org/resources/reports/white-supremacists-step-up-off-campuspropaganda-efforts-in-2018

Talking Stick - May/June 2019

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