Exploring Student, Faculty, and Staff Support for Concealed Firearms on Campus Over Time
Published date | 01 December 2023 |
DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/08874034231206343 |
Author | Joseph De Angelis,Terressa A. Benz |
Date | 01 December 2023 |
https://doi.org/10.1177/08874034231206343
Criminal Justice Policy Review
2023, Vol. 34(6) 559 –580
© The Author(s) 2023
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DOI: 10.1177/08874034231206343
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Article
Exploring Student, Faculty,
and Staff Support for
Concealed Firearms on
Campus Over Time
Joseph De Angelis1 and Terressa A. Benz2
Abstract
Campus carry has become an important issue in higher education. This study examines
how stakeholder attitudes changed in the period following the legalization of campus
carry in one rural state. The data for the study were drawn from two electronic
surveys administered to separate random samples of students, faculty, and staff at
one university in 2015 and 2018. This study addresses two research questions. Do
patterns in attitudes toward concealed campus carry change over time in the period
following the legalization of campus carry? Do the predictors of support for campus
carry change over time? The results suggest that support for concealed carry was
higher among students than faculty, staff, and other nonfaculty professional across
both time periods. However, there were only limited changes in the predictors of
support over time. Policy issues are discussed.
Keywords
concealed carry, firearms, college, university, campus
Introduction
In the wake of each new school shooting, debates around the connection between fire-
arms and campus reemerge, with some groups advocating for stricter regulations on
firearms and others suggesting that more campus community members be armed.
Accompanying this debate has been a decade-long movement toward the loosening of
1University of Idaho, Moscow, USA
2Oakland University, Rochester, MI, USA
Corresponding Author:
Joseph De Angelis, University of Idaho, 875 Perimeter Drive MS 1110, Moscow, ID 83844-1110, USA.
Email: jtdeangelis@uidaho.edu
1206343CJPXXX10.1177/08874034231206343Criminal Justice Policy ReviewDe Angelis and Benz
research-article2023
560 Criminal Justice Policy Review 34(6)
restrictions on firearms on campus and allowing stakeholders, such as students, fac-
ulty, and staff, to carry concealed handguns (Thompson, Price, Dake, & Teeple, 2013).
Indeed, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), from
2013 to 2014, at least 33 states introduced some type of campus carry bill. As of 2019,
11 states have legislation allowing some form of concealed carry on all public col-
leges/universities, and 16 states had a ban on carrying concealed weapons on campus
(National Conference of State Legislatures [NCSL], 2019). In response to this trend, a
growing body of social science research has begun to explore attitudes toward campus
carry, with a particular focus on patterns in support for campus carry among different
campus community groups, such as students, faculty, and staff (Bennett et al., 2012;
Bouffard, Nobles, & Wells, 2012; Cavanaugh et al., 2012; De Angelis et al., 2017;
Hassett & Kim, 2021; Hassett et al., 2020; Hayes et al., 2021; McMahon-Howard
et al., 2020, 2021; Nodeland & Saber, 2019; Patten et al., 2013; Scherer et al., 2022;
Thompson, Price, Dake, & Teeple, 2013; Thompson, Price, Dake, Teeple, Bassler,
et al., 2013). Although an increasing amount is known about what campus community
groups feel about concealed carry before the implementation of laws allowing guns on
campus (Nodeland & Saber, 2019), less is known about how groups feel months or
even years after the passage of such laws. As one example, little is known about how
patterns in support of concealed carry or perceptions of campus safety change over
time in the period after campus carry is legalized (McMahon-Howard et al., 2021).
This study explores changes in patterns of support for concealed firearms on campus
across two time periods after campus carry had been legalized in one jurisdiction.
More specifically, the study draws from two waves of electronic surveys administered
to random samples of students, faculty, and staff at one university (2015 and 2018) to
examine how stakeholder attitudes change over time following the legalization of
campus carry. Due to political and administrative restraints, it was not possible to
administer a survey prior to the passage of the campus carry law. As a result, the first
survey was conducted 8 months after the law was passed and the second wave survey
was collected 3.5 years later.
Attitudes Toward Campus Carry
A growing body of literature exploring public and campus stakeholder attitudes toward
campus carry legislation has developed over the last 10 years. Much of this research
has indicated that students, faculty, and staff tend to oppose campus carry, on the
whole (Arrigo & Acheson, 2016; Eaves et al., 2015; Hassett et al., 2020; Hassett &
Kim, 2021; Kyle et al., 2017; McMahon-Howard et al., 2020, 2021; Nodeland &
Saber, 2019; Patten et al., 2013; Price et al., 2014; Schafer et al., 2018; Shepperd et al.,
2018; Thompson, Price, Dake, & Teeple, 2013; Thompson, Price, Dake, Teeple,
Bassler, et al., 2013; Verrecchia & Hendrix, 2017; Watson et al., 2018). For example,
Watson et al. (2018) examined levels of support among faculty, students, and staff and
reported that only 26% of campus stakeholders supported a policy that would allow
faculty and staff to carry concealed firearms on campus. In addition, Shepperd et al.
(2018) reported that a majority of faculty, staff, and students at one university in the
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