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
• Subject Matter: Articles

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