Columbus State University freshman Ariel Duckworth supports Deal’s decision to veto the bill. It isn’t a problem for a responsible person like my husband to own guns. Sophomore May Uri Jagadish says, “I don’t find it necessary to ahve guns on campus”. He tried to water down the provision in February with petitions to legislative leaders to exempt child-care facilities located on campus, as well as faculty offices and places of student disciplinary hearings, from the carry rights. Deal has only vetoed one other bill this year, the religious liberty bill.
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He waited until Tuesday – the last possible day to issue vetoes – to block a bill to allow people over 21 with state permits to carry concealed handguns on college campuses. “My neighbor was accidentally shot, not by a criminal, but by someone who was shooting at a criminal”.
According the National Conference of State Legislatures, 23 states leave the decision to ban or allow weapons up to the individual colleges and universities, and 19 states – still including Georgia – now ban concealed weapons on campuses.
National Rifle Association spokeswoman Catherine Mortensen said in a statement that the group is disappointed by Deal’s decision, and that it anticipates “working with them next session to pass this important safety legislation”. Something that’s not sitting well with some faculty members.
The “campus carry” legislation, HB 859, would have allowed guns on campuses and in buildings owned by any public college, technical school or other institution, providing exceptions only for areas used for athletic events, dormitories, and fraternity and sorority houses.
As the bill was being debated in the legislature, Deal said major changes needed to be made to the proposal.
Opposing the bill, however, were the powerful governing board of the University System of Georgia, all 29 public university and college presidents, and their police chiefs.
A poll from The Red and Black, the independent student paper of the University of Georgia, found 62 percent of the student body opposed the bill.
He directed the state’s university system to review ways to improve campus security. She calls the vetoed bill the first of many victories. He also expressed concern about the safety of high-school students who are also enrolled in college courses. A lot of people are too young to handle that.
“While the subject matter of HB 859 was not before the Court in the Heller case, the opinion clearly establishes that ‘Like most rights, the right secured by the Second Amendment is not unlimited”.
Deal suggested some revisions to the bill and some students agree the bill should include some preliminary precautions.
“I’m relieved that I can get back to studying for exams, and knowing that next year when I go to take an exam, there’s not someone next to me with a gun in their pocket”, he said. “I feel safe at UT without them”.
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Deal’s veto was hardly a shock.
