Republican lawmakers push campus carry bills in 8 states amid school shootings
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Republican lawmakers renewed their push to allow guns on college campuses in 2026 amid a recent spate of school shootings across the country.
A convicted felon affiliated with ISIS opened fire in a classroom at Old Dominion University in Virginia last week, killing a teacher and wounding two others before being taken down by other ROTC cadets.
In December, a gunman opened fire on an engineering building at Brown University in Rhode Island, killing two students and wounding nine others during final exams. The suspect fled and later killed an MIT professor at his home in suburban Boston.
Although it is unclear whether an armed citizen could subdue the attackers before anyone was injured in the recent incidents, supporters argue that armed students or faculty could stop the attacks more quickly.
Bystanders were evacuated from the Old Dominion University campus following reports of an active shooter in Norfolk, Virginia, on Thursday, March 12, 2026. (Virginian-Pilot via Kendall Warner/AP)
OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY ROTC STUDENTS DISARMED ISIS SUPPORTER BY SHOUTING ‘ALLAHU AKBAR’ DURING THE SHOT: AUTHORITIES
Critics of the campus, on the other hand, argue that more guns on campus increase the risk of violence and accidents.
Lawmakers this year will debate bills to loosen college gun regulations in at least eight states, including Florida, Louisiana, New Hampshire, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Virginia and Wyoming.
A state Senate bill proposed in Florida would allow students, faculty and staff to carry guns on public university campuses. A similar State House bill awaiting the governor’s approval authorizes trained faculty and staff to continue on campus.
Florida State University students wait for news amid an active shooter incident on the school’s campus in Tallahassee, Florida, on Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Kate Payne)
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Rep. Michelle Salzman, R-Fla., who was taking a class at Florida State University when a gunman killed multiple people on campus in 2025, said students felt helpless during the attack.
“You could tell from a lot of back-and-forth conversations that they felt very helpless and wanted something. They wanted to help,” Salzman told WFSU Public Media. “They wanted to be able to save their friends and they didn’t want to see that happen.”
Lawmakers in Louisiana have introduced a broad campus carry bill that would allow any legal adult to carry a gun on college campuses and would remove institutions of higher education from the list of gun-free zones.
Damon Thueson shows his holster at a concealed carry permit class issued by “USA Firearms Training” on December 19, 2015 in Provo, Utah. (Getty Images)
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State Republican Rep. Danny McCormick, one of the bill’s authors, claimed the legislation would bring campus laws into line with Louisiana’s existing carry law.
More than a dozen states currently allow some form of on-campus carry, including Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
However, regulations vary from state to state.
Before West Virginia’s decision in January 2023 to allow people with concealed carry permits to bring guns to college and university campuses, the presidents of West Virginia State University, Concord University and Shepherd University said they had “serious reservations” about what they claimed the bill would pose “significant public safety issues and financial burdens.”
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“The introduction of firearms into this already challenging environment could have unintended consequences,” the presidents said.
They also claimed that access to firearms would increase the risk of suicide.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
