Georgia is one of nine states with proposals to allow guns on college campuses. Some states are even considering lifting their gun bans at K-12 public schools.
HB 55 would allow gun owners to carry their weapons at colleges in Georgia. It is currently before the House Judiciary Non-Civil Committee.
A spate of lawsuits filed by gun-rights groups have opened the door to new debate about campus guns in Utah and Colorado, Florida, Texas, Michigan, Kansas and Arizona, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education. However, a Supreme Court ruling in District of Columbia v. Heller says banning guns is constitutional in “sensitive places such as schools and government buildings.”
A number of states are bringing the gun issue to public schools. Georgia’s Common Sense Lawful Carry Act, approved last year, now gives licensed gun owners the right to keep weapons in their cars parked on school property. The law applies to everyone from teachers to visiting contractors and even parents, as long as they keep their guns locked up and out of sight.
Montana is considering a bill to allow students to keep hunting rifles in their vehicles parked at school.
And Nebraska is debating a measure to let teachers carry concealed guns inside the classroom; the bill was filed right after the shooting inside an Omaha high school that took the life of a school administrator.