On Tuesday, the West Virginia Legislature passed a bill to allow concealed carry holders to carry firearms on the campuses of state colleges and universities. Backed by the NRA, Senate Bill 10 passed 84 to 13 and will be sent to Republican West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice to be signed. Known as the Campus Self-Defense Act, the bill will override state college and institution’s restrictions on concealed carry holders from possessing firearms on campus. NRA West Virginia State Director Art Thomm told Fox News Digital on Tuesday, “The National Rifle Association applauds the West Virginia Legislature’s passage of NRA-backed campus carry.”
“There is no reason why any adult who is deemed mature enough to defend his or her country at war should not be entrusted to defend themselves and others on campus. And there is no reason an adult who is allowed to carry in other parts of the state can’t be trusted when on campus,” he added.
According to Fox:
If signed, West Virginia will become the 12th state to allow concealed carry holders to carry firearms on campuses, according to Fox News.
The bill was supported by Republican Delegate Mike Honaker who previously served as a Virginia State Police officer and responded to the 2007 Virginia Tech campus shooting.“I know we have to be careful about this issue,” Honker said last week while the bill was still in the House. “But there’s no way that I, as someone who has lived through this and seen it with my own eyes, could forbid another free law-abiding American citizen from carrying a firearm and retaining the ability and the capacity to defend yourself or others, God forbid they ever be put in a position to do it.”
But not everyone is happy with the bill, and many of them attended a town hall last week to protest it. One of those individuals, student E.T. Bowen said that students are “terrified on campus as it is,” according to Fox News. “We don’t need more guns to exacerbate that. This bill is like throwing kerosene on the wildfire, and it is appalling that we even need to say that while there’s still blood on the ground at Michigan State.”
