Student and Faculty Perceptions of Conceal Carry Law on Campus

Indianapolis, IN

Over the past couple of decades, school shootings have given rise to an increased focus on gun safety and regulation. One regulation that has become hotly debated is the issue of conceal carry and whether or not conceal carry laws should be implemented on school grounds. The purpose of this research project was to examine Butler University student and faculty perceptions of conceal carry being put into effect on a universities campus. Demographic variables such as class standing (students), current rank (faculty), gender, political affiliation and political ideology were used as control variables and to help describe the sample of the study. Twenty-one survey questions drawn from the GSS and a previous study were used to measure perceptions regarding conceal carry, gun ownership, victimization and political ideology. These measures were used to determine if there was a correlation between political ideology/affiliation and ones perception of conceal carry laws on campuses and whether or not there were any correlations between student and faculty perceptions as well. Previous results have indicated that a majority of students believe that conceal carry laws should not be present on school grounds. One previous study also showed similar results for faculty perceptions as well. Political affiliation/ideology and experience with firearms may be important variables for understanding perceptions regarding conceal carry laws as people who have stronger political beliefs and more experience with firearms tend to be more informed as well as active in the debate over conceal carry laws.