ATLANTA – After years of political debate, partisan pleas and protests, Georgia as of Saturday will allow guns on any campus in the state’s public college and university system.
The “campus carry” legislation is the most high-profile of a slew of laws that become effective July 1, including an expansion of Georgia’s medical marijuana law and permission for the state to take over failing schools.
Campus administrators and law enforcement officials have spent weeks holding town hall-style meetings. Fact sheets have gone out to digital in-boxes. Officials with the University System of Georgia, which has 45,000 employees, have posted online information and guidance about the new law.
Yet a number of faculty and students say they are still confused about what to expect, in part because guns are allowed on some parts of the campuses and prohibited in other areas. Some worry their campus communities aren’t prepared, an unease heightened by a schedule that brings an influx of hundreds of thousands of people mid-August when the fall semester begins.
“I think the university is being responsive but I just don’t think there will be a clear answer for a while,” said Victoria Smith-Butler, a communications professor at Albany State University and chairwoman of the University System’s faculty advisory council.
“I’m sure there have been students with guns in my classroom before without me knowing it,” she said. But now that it will be legal, “we are not sure how to deal with it. We’re breaking new ground.”
According to system officials, the law leaves it up to the person carrying the gun to know what the rules are and to follow them. That includes whether they are entering a place on campus where guns are still banned or if they are taking a class with a high school student – a situation that would also bar them from carrying their weapon.
Under the law, anyone with a concealed-weapon permit will be allowed to carry firearms on all public college and university campuses, with exceptions that include dormitories, fraternity and sorority houses, and buildings used for athletic events. On-campus child care centers are also excluded, as are areas on campus where high school students attend class.
No signs will be posted on campus identifying which areas are off-limits. Everyone has been told they are not allowed to ask whether someone is legally carrying a gun.
This was the fifth year in a row the Legislature had considered such a measure. Last year’s legislation got as far as Gov. Nathan Deal’s desk before he vetoed it, citing concerns that it was both too broad and that campuses have historically been gun-free to promote learning.
He signed House Bill 280 this year, however, after supporters agreed to other concessions that additionally excluded guns from places such as campus discipline hearings and administrative and faculty offices. With it, Georgia became one of at least 34 states to allow guns on public college campuses.
Supporters have said the law gives faculty and students a chance to protect themselves without interfering with their peers, since weapons must be concealed. It is an added measure, they say, to counter criminals who may also bring a gun onto campus.
Critics, however, fear allowing guns on campus creates an unsafe environment. They’ve cited national studies, including one released last fall by the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health that concluded the presence of guns would likely lead to more shootings, killings and suicides on campus, especially among students.
Georgia law requires anyone seeking a state permit to carry a concealed gun to be at least 21 years old. They must be fingerprinted and pass a background check.
Younger out-of-state students, however, could be allowed to carry their weapon here depending on “reciprocity” agreements that Georgia has with other states. In those agreements states recognize one another’s gun laws, so students from places such as Missouri, where the minimum age for a concealed-carry permit is 19, could also legally carry on campus in Georgia.
Other potential issues include the conundrum of game day: People will be allowed to carry their weapons in tailgating areas where alcohol can be consumed, but not inside athletic facilities.
Then there is the question of what to do with their firearms when owners are not carrying them if, for example, they live on campus. No campus in Georgia will provide gun-storage facilities. Existing state law allows weapons to be locked in cars if the permit holder comes onto campus.
Students who supported the legislation said they will ask the Legislature next year to add provisions that allow weapon holders to keep their firearms in their dorm rooms.
“It’s a real pain for anyone I know who carries,” said Ja’Quan Taylor, 21, a Georgia Tech senior who lives off-campus.
Guns are supposed to be concealed, carried in a fashion that does not attract attention. Campus police will be responsible for administering the law.
For students such as Taylor, who said the law gives him and others an assurance of protecting themselves, Saturday will be a momentous occasion. Taylor has carried his primary weapon – a .45 ACP handgun – near Georgia Tech but not on the campus. Now everything will change.
“It’s definitely going to feel safer,” he said.
Some faculty members, too, have praised the plan. When the faculty Senate at Darton State College – which has since merged with Albany State – voted on the issue before final passage, half thought it was a good idea.