Gov. Jim Justice: I’ll Sign Campus Carry Bill ‘In a Matter of Seconds’

Gov. Jim Justice (R) says he will sign campus carry legislation within “a matter of seconds” of it reaching his desk, noting an armed student may be able to stop a campus attacker in West Virginia.

On February 21, 2023, Breitbart News noted that campus carry legislation had cleared the West Virginia legislature and was on its way to Justice’s desk.

Once signed, West Virginia will become the 12th campus carry state in the Union. The other 11 are: Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Mississippi, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Wisconsin.

WVNews quoted Justice responding to the passage of the legislation, saying:

When this bill comes to me, it won’t be with me but for a matter of seconds, because I’ll sign it. It may very well be that we’ve got somebody on (a college) campus that has a firearm who, when something bad starts to happen, may save a bunch of lives. I really, truly believe that the people who have firearms and carry permits are law-abiding, good people with rock solid credentials behind them.

Speaking specifically of armed students with concealed carry permits, Justice said, “I would trust them a whole lot more than somebody running onto a campus with maybe an illegal firearm or whatever that may be. I’ll very proudly sign the legislation as soon as it comes to me.”

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. AWR Hawkins holds a PhD in Military History with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.