Protesters oppose campus carry bill, question UNLV’s silence on the issue
Students, professors and activists rallied at UNLV Wednesday afternoon to oppose legislation that would allow concealed weapons on campus.
Students at the University of Nevada in Reno held a similar rally at the same time, but activists were quick to point to a major difference between the two campuses. While UNLV administration hasn’t taken a position on the issue, the UNR administration has not been shy about opposing Assembly Bill 148, the campus carry bill sponsored by Assemblywoman Michele Fiore, R-Las Vegas.
“Our university needs to make a statement. We cannot be the only ones speaking up about the issue,” incoming UNLV freshman and student activist Caitlyn Caruso said. “We need our faculty, our students, our student body government, our UNLV president to speak up and stand with us, or our lives are on the line.”
Caruso joined about three dozen protesters in front of the college’s student union. As students between classes passed by the plaza, speakers gave impassioned pleas for them to get involved. Many, including Caruso, were upset about comments Fiore made in February to The New York Times in which she said concealed weapons on campus would protect college women from sexual assaults.
“Telling our women to pick up arms to prevent rape is appalling. We need to stop it at the root, and that’s educating our university,” Caruso said. “How is it that we’re behind UNR again?”
UNR student government submitted a resolution to the Legislature in opposition to AB 148 earlier this month, and university administration has not been shy about speaking out.
“The administration, faculty and students oppose Bill 148,” UNR President Marc Johnson told the Reno Gazette-Journal earlier this month. “They (legislators) aren’t doing this for us … They are doing it to us.”
UNLV’s student government does not have a stance on the bill. CSUN President Elias Benjelloun was at the rally but left before it started, leaving UNLV senior and CSUN officer Caleb Green the sole student representative at the event.
“Never have I thought in my four years being here that we need to have guns on campus in order to feel safe,” Green said, pointing out that he was not speaking for CSUN. “Why add guns to the mix when there is no problem?”
Green said UNLV’s elected student government would not take a stance on the issue, because its attempts to do a poll were unsuccessful. But speaking personally, Green said he was worried that having guns on campus would make it more dangerous for minority students. He said it was also likely that having guns on campus would increase the cost of liability insurance, which would force tuition up and stifle UNLV’s goal of becoming a top research university.
“There just isn’t any support for this from students,” he said. “This is something that was forced on us.”
UNLV president Len Jessup maintained his silence on the issue Wednesday afternoon, and university officials did not answer multiple requests for a statement. But physics professor John Farley, president of the UNLV chapter of the Nevada Faculty Alliance, opposed the bill. The organization advocates for professors and academic freedom.
Farley said about 90 percent of its members have opposed such bills for years. Similar bills failed in 2013 and 2011.
Farley also said there would be costs associated with allowing guns on campus. Additional staff would likely be needed to verify people’s concealed weapons permits.
Farley shared an anecdote about a UNLV chemistry professor who moved to Pocatello, Idaho to teach at a university. A little more than a month after Idaho passed its campus carry law in 2014, Byron Bennett was lecturing to a class full of students when a gun fell out of his pocket and went off. Luckily, the gunshot wound to Bennett’s foot was the only injury, Farley said.
“What happens in Pocatello, Idaho, could happen in Vegas,” he said, playing on the city’s famous slogan.
Concealed carry permits are only available to those ages 21 or older, meaning many students would not be able to carry weapons on campus. Currently, concealed weapons are prohibited on campuses unless an individual obtains permission from the college president. Permission is rarely granted.
There is another campus carry bill waiting in the wings that might resolve at least some concerns by university officials. Senate Bill 350 by Ben Kieckhefer, R-Reno, was introduced March 16. It would allow weapons on campus but prohibit them at major sporting events on campus.
Contact Wesley Juhl at wjuhl@reviewjournal.com and 702-383-0391. Find him on Twitter: @WesJuhl.
