NASHVILLE — The recent mass shooting at an Oregon community college has some Tennessee lawmakers now looking at loosening restrictions to allow at least some state-issued handgun permit holders to go armed on state public college and university campuses.
Following a state Senate Higher Education Subcommittee hearing today focusing on campus safety issues, Sen. Mike Bell, R-Riceville, said he is weighing filing a bill to allow faculty and employees with permits to bring their firearms on campus.
Sen. Mike Bell
R-Riceville“Current law is you can only have it in your car if you’re a non-student,” Bell told reporters. “Students can’t keep it in their car under current law.”
He said “one of the ideas I’m looking at is allowing employees and faculty to carry. As a start, if the Legislature decides this is a good direction to go, I think a start would be to allow employees and staff to carry.”
That could come with a “notification requirement” where campus police or security chiefs be notified, Bell said. “Those are just some of the things that I’m thinking about right now. I’ve not put anything on paper yet.”