A Florida State University expert says statistics are on the side of Republican lawmakers who want to allow concealed weapons on campus.
FSU President John Thrasher is strongly opposed, but criminology professor Gary Kleck says the controversy is overblown.
Satistics show concealed weapon permit holders are overwhelmingly law abiding, and letting them pack their weapons on campus won’t make much of a difference, Kleck says.
“Those who are among the few who are victimized on campus, on campuses, will benefit from having a gun.”
College campuses are safe havens compared to the outside world, Kleck says and self-protection is almost never needed. Kleck says beefing up or watering down gun control laws seldom does what lawmakers intend.
“On the other hand, most kinds of gun control laws show no statistically, or detectable, effects on crime rates.”
The bill by Senator Greg Evers, a Republican from Baker, has only one more committee stop before a full Senate vote.
