Students in favor of gun-owner rights will be given the opportunity to join Students for Concealed Carry on Campus in the coming month as the new student organization emerges on the UW-Madison campus.
SCCC is a national organization consisting mostly of students who support the rights of licenseholding handgun owners to carry concealed handguns on college campuses, according to SCCC media coordinator Scott Lewis.
Allowing licensed individuals to carry concealed handguns on campus is not something that is likely to cause more problems and it does have the potential to mitigate violent crime on campus,"" Lewis said.
According to Lewis, SCCC formed in the wake of the shootings at Virginia Tech after many handgun owners began to speak out about violence prevention.
""We can't say for sure that a concealed handgun license holder in one of those classrooms would have prevented the shooting but we can say for certain that it would even the odds,"" he said.
UW-Madison first-year medical student Bret Bostwick, who was named the Campus Leader of the organization last week, agreed recent school shootings brought his attention to the issue.
""In the wake of the Virginia Tech massacre, I started thinking about the means that potential victims have to defend themselves, and I thought especially the state of Wisconsin has policies that make it harder to defend themselves,"" he said.
Bostwick said students have already formed SCCC chapters at Madison Area Technical College, Marquette University and Lawrence University in Appleton. He said in the coming weeks he would work to inform students about the organization and begin recruiting of members.
""It's taken awhile for this movement to hit Wisconsin and Illinois because of the really strict gun laws we have right now, and so I think it's important for students to know that they can have a voice in the gun movement as it's debated at the state and campus level,"" Bostwick said.
Bostwick added SCCC members are planning to participate in an April 21 through 25 protest of state laws and school policies preventing people from carrying concealed weapons on campuses.
According to Lewis, 11 U.S. colleges, including Colorado State University and all public colleges in Utah, currently allow concealed carry on their campuses. He added none of the schools have had issues with gun violence.
UW-Madison philosophy professor and expert on gun ownership ethics Lester Hunt said the idea of concealed carry on campus could be a good idea if tests and background checks were administered to all potential carriers.
""It's time to at least consider the possibility of people exercising a concealed carry right on campus,"" Hunt said.
