WV Republican Lawmakers Push Campus Carry for Self-Defense

West Virginia Republican lawmakers are pushing campus carry legislation to allow concealed carry permit holders to be armed for self-defense while on public campuses.

Metro News reports that West Virginia’s House of Delegates Judiciary Committee will begin discussion on the campus carry legislation February 11.

The legislation, House Bill 2519, is titled the Campus Self-Defense Act. It is written to allow the carry of self-defense firearms “on campus and in campus buildings.”

The text of the bill “[acknowledges] that violence against disarmed law-abiding citizens is an increasing, but unnecessary, occurrence.” The bill seeks to curtail that violence by “[reaffirming] a law-abiding citizen’s Second Amendment Right, the right to protect themselves by allowing legally licensed and permitted employees, staff, and students of public universities the right to legally carry a concealed weapon within specified limitations.”

Campus carry is currently the law of the land in 11 states. The National Conference of State Legislatures lists those 11 states as Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Mississippi, Oregon, Texas, Tennessee, Utah, and Wisconsin. It is important to remember that carry laws vary state-to-state. For instance, the Texas law applies to concealed carry permit holders in general, while the Tennessee campus carry law applies only to faculty.

Ohio also allows concealed carry but does not mandate that public colleges and universities allow it. Instead, the Ohio laws “leaves the decision to individual institutions.”

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. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.