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Liberty University Allows Concealed Carry in Residence Halls
Liberty University — the Lynchburg, Virginia school where Ted Cruz launched his campaign for president — announced that they are repealing a rule that prohibits firearms in residence halls. This isn’t a ground breaking change, as Liberty has previously allowed concealed carry on campus:
Liberty has allowed students, faculty and staff — who have the proper state permits — to carry concealed guns on campus since 2011, Falwell said, a measure taken in response to the 2007 massacre at nearby Virginia Tech. He obtained a permit himself in 2013. Under Virginia law, residents may obtain a concealed-carry permit if they are 21 or older. About 950 people at Liberty now have concealed-carry permits, Falwell said. He said hundreds more in recent days have signed up for a training course to get a permit.
University President Jerry Falwell, Jr. has long been an advocate of the Second Amendment and holds — and uses — a concealed carry permit himself. He’s one of the more forward-thinking university administrators on this subject, ensuring that those in his charge have the resources to defend themselves.
Campus carry has been an issue elsewhere, too. I live in Texas, where it’s been debated for the past several legislative sessions, and finally passed (with restrictions) during this most recent session. For Liberty, though, allowing firearms in residence halls is not a giant leap, as it already encourages concealed carry on campus, but but stand by for warnings of its residence halls becoming killing fields according to Bloomberg and company.
But how many eligible students living in dormitories will have the time or inclination to jump through the necessary hoops to obtain the license? Very few, I’d guess. How many college juniors live in the dormitories, anyway? How many of them have the free time to demonstrate firearms proficiency to the state’s satisfaction? Of those, how many with $50 of disposable income are looking to hand it over to a county court to obtain a permit, not to mention the $500 – $750 to purchase a handgun and holster?
My hat’s off to Falwell and the board of Liberty University for not bowing to political correctness and ensuring law-abiding students who take their security seriously are allowed to exercise their Second Amendment rights.
In other news, the concealed carry course I’m scheduled to teach on Saturday has sold out and we are working to accept two additional students.
Published in Education, Guns
It’s not just that — it might save people’s lives. And it’s interesting to think that it’s equally as important to let it be known that Liberty is not a gun-free zone because it’s like a locked car to a thief — they just move on to the first unlocked car.
Gun-free zones are dangerous.
I loved Ball Diamond Ball’s post claiming that people who put up a sign declaring a place to be gun-free should take on the responsibility for anyone hurt by a gun on their premises. It’s not just happy talk and hippie talk — and it never has been — it’s damned irresponsible to claim a place to be gun-free and then not have a means to enforce the rule.
Falwell comment last week….. “I’ve always thought if more good people had concealed carry permits, then we could end those Muslims before they walked in killing.” pretty sick
Exceptionally awesome
How so?
the only good muzzie is a dead muzzie?
Always check your urban dictionary if you are not streetwise, like me.
I will start referring to you as Bob “Street Cred” Thompson.
I googled Muzzie. It is a woman’s dress shop?
Chances of a malcontent ‘successfully’ attacking anyone at Liberty just fell dramatically.
Sorry about your alma mater.
Off-campus living of any sort at Liberty University requires special approval, and is granted, for example, when one is married, commuting from home, or in need of special medical care.
Did not know that. Thank you. That certainly adds to the conversation.
The article mentions having concealed handgun classes on campus this is a bigger issue than I originally thought.
So prior to this how would any of the students exercised the concealed carry right if they couldn’t also keep it in their dorms when not carrying?
According to the article it was a problem. They had to keep them in their car, but could carry them to class. Maybe MFR has more insight.
I still think the incidence of undergrads getting concealed carry licenses is pretty small.
Keeping it in their car sounds extraordinarily dangerous.
Their old policy, apparently:
It’s pretty easy to get around as evidenced by the explosion of town homes and apartment buildings here. Until recently, they didn’t have enough on-campus housing because enrollment had outpaced the growth of housing. I have friends living off-campus who aren’t 21 yet. You’re not talking about a huge percentage of people armed on campus. I know some who work for the school who are, and they are unconcerned about it. The school has been focusing on this since the Va Tech massacre in having students be able to defend themselves.
His comments were in the context of the San Bernardino killings. He was emphasizing the students should be prepared to defend themselves from Muslim terrorists, and that the school encouraged them to take gun safety classes and get their concealed carry permit. You’re making the same distortion of his comments that the Left has.
The NDAA has language for installation commanders to allow certain armed forces members to actually be armed. It’s a step in the right direction.
You can see his comments in their entirety here. Despite what the transcript claims, it isn’t verbatim, and you can clearly make out what they claim is indecipherable. Watch the video for yourself.
http://wset.com/news/local/lu-president-jerry-falwell-makes-controversial-comments-at-convo
He’s a little flippant for my taste, but there’s nothing factually wrong in what he said. He did not make a blanket call to go hunt down Muslims. He spoke plainly and had the stones to call the terrorists for what they were while our President caviled and temporized.
I’m checking with some folks I know over there about what the current policy is to clarify it.
Edit: I am told by someone who is on campus every day, has a permit, and carries, that you can carry anywhere on campus except the dorms (which is the proposed change by Falwell that has yet to be voted on by the board). They have their gun on them at all times on campus every day. The bit about leaving your weapon in a sealed container when in an office is specifically if you are not keeping it on your person. The idea being they don’t want people leaving guns lying on their desk or in an unsecured desk drawer while they aren’t at their desk.
The gist is we’re talking about a small percentage of the student body who would be eligible for a permit in the first place. Most students aren’t 21 until they’re seniors, and many are living off-campus by then already. This would be a much bigger deal if the school hadn’t allowed licensed concealed carry anywhere on campus then opened the whole place up. This is only bringing the dorms in-line with the policy everywhere else on campus.
Why pose that as a question to me?
The bigger issue (ignored, of course, in the media) is that faculty are allowed to carry. Here in Ohio, only law enforcement may carry on school or “place of worship” grounds (even if the schools are private) – even teachers with CCW permits cannot carry. I am wondering if Virginia has similar prohibitions? If so, then Liberty is making a test case out of itself.
It’s up to the school. George Mason and VT among others have prohibitions. https://www.vcdl.org/chp
Well, I can’t exactly say I’m surprised when a university’s practice is more lenient than what’s outlined in their official materials :-)
Source? Link? Context?
You’ve misunderstood him at first. He is representing that that is Falwell’s position, and he is not using “sick” in the now decade-old slang sense.
I think that is good news. Christian universities appear to be experiencing renewed popularity.
I read the Virginia statutes for concealed carry for the post. I think they are more liberal than Texas. There doesn’t appear to be such a prohibition in VA.
Good post, Brent.
I understand that the justices tried to divide the baby in McDonald and Heller, but these “sensible” laws open everything up to subjective rule of man. Where do we draw the line on what is sensible? Do we need to have national laws of infringement, or do we leave local flavor to it? If so, then why can’t Chicago be really restrictive if Chicagoans and their representatives think that best for the city?
Honestly, if you look at what Obama and the left are saying after Charleston, Colorado, and San Bernardino they are trying to change minds about what is sensible infringement. Once we accept that no right is absolute, then we’ve abandoned that right to whatever Sophist can convince us to give over the rest of it via “sensible” regulation.