The April 16 massacre at Virginia Tech raised a number of questions about how university campuses need ensure students and faculty members remain safe while going about their business. Questions as to how a gunman had the ability to kill two students in a dormitory, roam free for two hours and then kill 30 more students have been the primary focus of the Blacksburg Police Department’s investigation for the past two weeks. Some of the questions raised by the tragedy have caused universities across the country to reconsider their policies regarding firearms, and LSU is in the midst of working to close a potentially lethal loophole in the state law that allows students to keep firearms in their dorm rooms and vehicles. The LSU Student Code of Conduct prohibits “possession or use of firearms, explosives, fireworks, weapons or facsimile weapons” in “any University building or communal University housing” including “residence halls, apartments and Greek houses.” But state law exempts students from firearm restrictions, allowing them to possess guns in dorm rooms, vehicles or while transporting guns to dorm rooms from their vehicles. Rep. Rick Gallot, D-Grambling, said in an open panel on gun control laws Monday that he plans to reintroduce a piece of legislation that would outlaw firearms in dorm rooms or on-campus apartments. His bill does include exemptions, however, making allowances for students enrolled in ROTC firearm classes and students who are law enforcement officers. Gallot’s bill is a necessary and important step to ensure that students who have firearms on campus can be held accountable under state law and not just the code of conduct. The University and the student body ought to join together in a combined effort to push this bill through the legislature. While no one can honestly say what would have happened if students at Va. Tech were carrying guns when gunman Cho Seung-Hui opened fire on them, it does not make sense to have guns within easy access of LSU students. According to the most recent statistics from the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, 649 people in the U.S. were killed in 2004 as a result of accidental firearm shootings. Add in the deaths from violence-related shootings, and the number of people killed jumps to 28,685. More guns are not the answer, especially on a college campus. We need to support tough legislation that stringently limits the number of firearms on campus, lest a tragedy similar to the one at Va. Tech takes place at LSU.
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