A Purdue student wants to carry a concealed weapon on campus and wants other students to have the same right.
Student government Senator Zach Briggs believes campus would be safer if they could carry guns. He is pushing legislation for it.
"Students, staff and faculty, if they have the proper state licensing, should be able to be licensed by Purdue to carry a handgun," Briggs said.
Briggs believes a concealed carrier could have stopped the April 2007 Virginia Tech shooter, when a student killed 33 people and injured 15 others before killing himself.
"In the resolution, I say that students would have to take an eight-hour class," Briggs said.
He arranged discounted gun safety classes at a West Lafayette shooting range.
"If I took an eight-hour class and I had a gun, I would feel a little bit safer, but I just don't think that is right," said Purdue senior Rachel Stege.
"I don't feel like just anyone should be able to carry a gun, because I feel like crime rates would go up," said freshman Dawn Williams.
"It's only going to cause more chaos in the end if a situation did occur," said senior Alex Illium.
Part of Briggs' resolution includes students not being able to talk about it, not being able to tell anyone they are carrying a concealed weapon.
"We have our random acts of violence, don't get me wrong," said Purdue University Police Chief John Cox.
The campus police chief argues Purdue's crime rate rises nowhere near gun necessity. In a very candid conversation with Eyewitness News, he talked about the concern of mixing guns with students who sometimes use alcohol.
"Just putting firearms in the mix of alcohol and young men and women," he said. "Can only lead to more of those random acts."
"I know I would trust myself with a gun," Stege said.
But for now, the conceal carry concept remains holstered until it can be passed on the student government level. Then, it would go to the university senate and onto Purdue's board of trustees.
