Lawmakers pass bill that would allow university faculty members to carry concealed weapons
Lawmakers met on Wednesday morning to discuss a bill that would allow faculty members to carry concealed weapons on college campuses in Missouri.
The Campus Protection Officers Bill would authorize colleges and universities to designate faculty members as protection officers.
The protection officers would have to submit a certificate of completion from a campus protection officer training program approved by the Department of Public Safety.
The bill says the officers would be authorized to carry concealed weapons on campus.
The House Higher Education Committee passed the bill on to the Rules Committee.
Dean Dohram, the sponsor of the bill, said, “I think the sooner that we can get this legislation in place, get it passed, get it secure and get people to start thinking about it, we can have this type of security on campus relatively soon.”
Not all lawmakers are in favor of the bill. Rep. Greg Razer said, “Perhaps my vote was wrong. I voted against it. Perhaps time will tell that this is the Band-Aid that we need for right now, but I’m uncomfortable with introducing more guns on campus. That’s my belief.”
The bill is also designed to leave the decision of whether or not to designate faculty to carry weapons up to the governing board of each university or college system.
