Students for Concealed Carry is a national, non-partisan, grassroots organization composed of more than 43,000 college students, professors, college employees, parents of college students, and concerned citizens who believe that holders of state-issued concealed handgun licenses should be allowed the same measure of personal protection on college campuses that current laws afford them virtually ev
erywhere else. SCC has members in all fifty states and the District of Columbia. Both the membership and the leadership of SCC are made up of individuals with very diverse political backgrounds. Among SCC’s leaders you’ll find conservatives, moderates, liberals, Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians, Independents, etc. The members of SCC look beyond partisanship, toward the common goal of achieving state laws and school policies based on factual evidence rather than emotional rhetoric. College campuses, though typically safe, do play host to every type of violent crime found in the rest of society, from assault to rape to murder. Recent high-profile shootings and armed abductions on college campuses clearly demonstrate that “gun free zones” serve to disarm only those law-abiding citizens who might otherwise be able to protect themselves. Because numerous independent researchers and state agencies agree that concealed handgun license holders are five times less likely than non-license holders to commit violent crimes; because no other type of location has seen an increased rate of violent crime since concealed carry became legal there; because the eleven U.S. colleges/universities that currently allow concealed carry on campus (and have done so for a combined total of more than eighty semesters) have not seen any resulting incidents of gun violence, gun accidents, or gun thefts; and because college campuses are open environments that lack screening measures such as metal detectors, X-ray machines, and controlled points of entry, SCC feels that there is no pragmatic basis for declaring college campuses off-limits to concealed carry by the same trained, licensed adults (age twenty-one and above in most states) who lawfully and safely carry concealed handguns in locations such as office buildings, movie theaters, grocery stores, shopping malls, restaurants, churches, banks, etc. SCC has two main functions. The first function is to dispel the common myths and misconceptions about concealed carry on college campuses, by making the public aware of the facts. The second function is to push state legislators and school administrators to grant concealed handgun license holders the same rights on college campuses that those licensees currently enjoy in most other unsecured locations. Because SCC fully supports states’ rights, its policy is to push for change at the state level, rather than at the federal level. The first step is to see the laws in many states amended to remove statutory prohibitions against concealed carry on college campuses. The next step is to see other states follow Utah’s lead in prohibiting state-funded colleges from refusing to honor state-issued licenses. Though SCC supports concealed carry on the campuses of both public and private colleges, it also strongly supports the rights of private property owners; therefore, SCC believes that the issue of concealed carry at private colleges must be handled through negotiations with school administrators, rather than through state legislation. SCC believes that private colleges should be encouraged to support concealed carry on campus through the enactment of state laws that grant colleges immunity from liability associated with allowing concealed carry on campus. SCC supports the legalization of concealed carry by licensed individuals on college campuses. SCC has no official positions on open carry, unlicensed concealed carry, or concealed carry on the campuses of primary or secondary schools. Students for Concealed Carry is not affiliated with the NRA, a political party, or any other organization.
