Parkisnails 1

What Effect Will Allowing Licensed Purdue Students to Carry Firearms Have on Campus
Safety?

The Parkisnails

Abstract

Our team performed empirical and secondary research in order to determine the effect of
allowing licensed Purdue students to carry a firearm, open or concealed, on the statistical and
perceived safety of the campus. We initially set out to research the correlation between gun
ownership and crime rate and found that there are many factors that could influence this
relationship; gun ownership rates alone do not affect crime. We also studied journals and
distributed a survey to Purdue students to determine the psychological effect of allowing guns on
campus. Our research shows that allowing licensed students to carry firearms would likely cause
unrest in a majority of the campus community. However, other research shows that gun
ownership, when properly combined with firearm education and awareness, can positively
influence the safety of the campus. Finally, our team speculates actions and procedures that the
university could take towards allowing safe and controlled firearm carry on campus, including an
educational program and required courses that a student would potentially have to take in order
to acquire a legally state-issued firearms permit.

Introduction

In recent years, school shootings have infamously made headlines across America, from
the Virginia tech shooting of 2007 to the Purdue Shooting of 2014. Violent shootings have also
been accompanied by sexual assault and various other crimes. These devastating occurrences
have raised many questions regarding safety on college campuses. With the allowance of
concealed or open firearms on campus, safety could be positively or negatively influenced.
Whether or not campuses should permit open and/or concealed carry by licensed students is
therefore an important question to raise.
Currently in Indiana, it is illegal for a person to sell or give a firearm to a minor unless
said person is their legal guardian. Assuming a person is 18 years or older, it is also illegal for a
dealer to sell a person a firearm who has been convicted of a felony or who abuses illegal
substances. Furthermore, it is illegal to sell a firearm to a person without a NICS/background
check. No permit is required to purchase a firearm (rifles, shotguns, handguns) it is, however,
illegal carry a handgun without out also having a license to carry it. (NRA-ILA, 2013).
All 50 states have concealed have concealed carry weapon laws. 21 have banned carrying
a concealed weapon on a college campus, 23 have left that decision up to the college or
university, Indiana included, while the remaining 6 have new provisions allowing the carrying of
concealed firearms on public postsecondary campuses. Utah is the sole state which considers
public colleges and universities as public entities in which the state has no authority to ban
Parkisnails 2

concealed carry firearms. (NCSL, 2014).
According to an IBT report by Jacey Fortin, gun ownership alone does not have a
statistical effect on crime. For example, Switzerland and the US have similarly high gun
ownership rates with Switzerland having at least one gun in approximately 28% of households.
However, the US has a murder rate of about five per 100,000 people per year, which is more
than five times that of Switzerland (Fortin, 2012). These numbers suggest that other factors, such
as education and training combined with gun ownership, reduce violent crime. Switzerland has a
unique defense system in which all males are required to undergo military training. This suggests
that training is a key factor on how gun ownership affects crime (Fortin, 2012).
Our aim in researching this topic is to understand the effects on safety and crime with the
allowance of firearms on college campuses, Purdue University in particular. Our hypothesis is
that crime would be significantly diminished if concealed or open firearms were allowed on
campus with a legally issued permit, and that, consequently, the community would feel safer.
Along with finding statistical data, our team researched the psychological effect of
allowing licensed gun holders to carry firearms on campus. This is where our team developed a
method to collect data and determine these effects.

Methodology

In order to determine feelings of safety towards concealed and openly carried firearms in
the campus community, we created and distributed a survey through Purdue Qualtrics in order to
gather feedback from the student body. Purdue Qualtrics allowed us to monitor our survey
results in current time. We were then able to look up individual responses or view the trends in
the responses from the total sample population. To reach out to as many students as possible, we
posted our survey onto numerous Purdue affiliated facebook groups, including, for example, the
Purdue University Class of 2017 page. By gathering survey data through these social media
groups, email contact lists, and friends, we were able to sample responses from a wide spread of
students of all ages, majors, and personal backgrounds to ensure that our final results were not
biased as result of targeting only one specific group of people.
The survey consisted of 8 multiple choice questions in which we asked participants about
their year in school, their residency, and rankings of how safe they would feel if students were
allowed to carry guns concealed or open on campus. We asked about year in school and
residency to ensure that the data we collected could be used as an accurate representation of the
close to 40,000 students enrolled at Purdue University. In terms of residency, we had participants
record whether they were in state or out of state students, international, and whether or not they
were residents of any of the Midwestern states.
Once we had gathered all of the responses, we utilized the cross tabulation tool provided
on Purdue Qualtrics to compare the different answers we received. By selecting two questions
we wanted to compare, the software would provide us with a matrix that displayed the trends in
the participants responses. For example, in Figure 11, the first cell represents the participants
who answered that yes, they lived in Indiana, and rated question 7 with a 1 indicating they would
Parkisnails 3

feel very unsafe. The results of these cross tabulations are referenced and discussed in the
following section.
We also analyzed survey data from a peer reviewed-journal on the feelings of safety with
the allowance of firearms in order to analyze a larger sample populations response. The survey
included questions very similar to the questions we had in our survey, and was given by phone to
randomly dialed participants across America.
In order to get an understanding of how crime rates on campus would be affected with the
allowance of guns from a statistical perspective, we analyzed data related to gun control laws and
their effect on crime rates from several peer-reviewed journals and organizations.
To get a better understanding of the feelings that school faculty and officials had on the
allowance of guns on campus, we researched news articles and other journals that cited or quoted
the opinions of campus officials and their decisions as a result.


Results

We were able to obtain 152 responses to use in our analysis, summaries of which can be
seen in the Figures 1-8 in the appendix. Of the 152 responses, 58 were freshmen, 30 were
sophomores, 30 were juniors, and 32 were seniors, which confirms that more or less we were
able to get an even distribution of participants to take the survey. 10% of the students who
participated were international. Of the remaining 90% of domestic students, 70% indicated they
were from one of the Midwestern states. In total, about 50% of students who participated are
Indiana residents. Again, these statistics helped us establish a good understanding of the general
consensus of the overall student population at Purdue since we were able to gather responses
from a varied group of people.
We compared the responses from question 4 with question 6 and question 1 with question
7 through cross tabulation, which can be seen in Figure 11 and Figure 9 respectively. What this
showed us was that it made no significant difference whether a student was from Indiana or not
with regards to how safe he or she would feel if guns were permitted. Figure 9 shows the
distribution of safety ratings against a participants year in school. Again we saw similar
distributions across each grade level, which confirms that the results generated were not biased
towards any one group of people within the overall student body.
Once we established the logistics of our sample population, we asked the participants to
rank how safe they would feel if Purdue allowed students to carry firearms on campus. Figure
1.1 displays the result of this question. The mean response of the 152 responses is 4.25, which
would suggest that generally students would feel less safe if Purdue allowed students to carry
firearms, with the bulk of responses submitted expressing students would actually feel very
unsafe.
Our results displayed in Figure 7 follow up the question asked in Figure 6. The question
again asks users to rank how safe they would feel, but in this case, how safe they would feel if
Purdue allowed students to carry concealed firearms. After performing a cross tabulation show
Parkisnails 4

in Figure 10, we observed that students opinions with regards to their own safety did not vary
significantly depending on whether Purdue allowed concealed versus not concealed firearms on
campus
For our final question, we asked participants to respond with their interest in obtaining a
firearm if Purdue allowed students to carry firearms on campus. The results of this question can
be seen in Figure 8. About half of the participants expressed no interest in obtaining a firearm,
while only 30% expressed definite interest. To get a better idea of these results, we cross-
tabulated the responses we received from question 8 with question 7. The results of this cross
tabulation can be seen in Figure 12. From this we observed that the students who answered that
they would feel very unsafe also expressed no interest in obtaining a firearm of their own, while
those students who would feel very safe did express interest.
Alongside our empirical data, research done by several professors in the Harvard
department of health from 1998-1999 indicates that the general American community feels less
safe if their local community were to own more guns. The survey had a very well distributed
sample, with many different states, ages, education levels, and income levels. These
demographical statistics are presented in Figure 13. The survey was taken in a decade in which
school shootings were more prevalent than they are even now (School associated student
homicides, 2008). Therefore, it is likely that the survey was conducted at a time of stronger
feelings towards gun control then in contemporary times. Nevertheless, the data is still an
accurate representation of American mindsets pertaining to the ownership of guns in a
community. Because over 50 percent of those who had an education level of college or higher
said that they would feel less safe with more gun ownership in their local community, it is
reasonable to say that this data is a good indicator that those educated at the college level fell
significantly less secure with more gun acquisition in their local community (Miller et al., 2000).
It is also seems clear that college faculty share similar views on the safety of their
students to the students themselves. After the opposition of a bill to the Indiana legislature in
2012 that would have prohibited college campuses from banning gun ownership on campus,
Indiana University spoke to the Herald Time about their views about the allowance of guns on
campus. Their spokesperson, Mark Land, spoke on behalf of IU, saying that the allowance of
guns on campus was not something we're in favor of and it's not something our law
enforcement guys want to see, either (Leonard, 2013). The American Association of State
Colleges and Universities clearly state in a pamphlet about gun control in 2008 that the
American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) maintains support for
existing state laws that ban concealed weapons from public college campuses (Harnisch, 2008).

Discussion
Our findings show a significant difference between statistical findings of the effect of
firearms on campus and the psychological effects of allowing the ownership of firearms. While
statistical evidence shows that a Purdue policy change to allow firearm carry would positively
influence campus safety, our survey data and psychological findings show that public fear of that
policy change could pose a great issue.
Parkisnails 5

As stated in the introduction of the report, Switzerland experiences an extremely low
crime rate partially as a result of mandatory military training for all males. This suggests that a
campus-wide education and training program could possibly reduce crime on campus and ease
fear among students.
The next question to be answered concerns whether or not students would actually have
possession of a firearm to use as defense if open and/or concealed carry were allowed and a
random building were to go under attack. According to a Texas survey conducted by the Journal
of Interpersonal Violence at a university that does not allow students to carry firearms, the
likelihood that a campus building under attack would have at least one concealed license holder
varied between 20% and 40% (Bouffard, Nobles, Wells, & Cavanaugh, 2011). This represents a
20% to 40% chance that violent crime could be deterred or terminated if students were allowed
to exercise their permits and a random building were to undergo attack. These numbers could
also be higher as some students may currently be deterred from purchasing a permit because they
know they cannot carry on campus anyway. This possibility negatively skews that data presented
by the Journal of Interpersonal Violence.
There is, however, research, both from our empirical findings and from peer-reviewed
journals and news articles, that indicates that the college community would feel significantly less
safe if firearms were allowed on campus. Both the AASCU and the IU representatives opinions
on the permission of firearms on campus make it clear that not only the students but the college
faculty and community are also strongly opposed to the permission of firearms on campus.
After the Virginia Tech shootings in 2007, it was reported that Virginia Tech delayed in
notifying the students of the initial shootings (Potter , 2011). The campus was later fined for their
negligence. After the Virginia Tech shootings, Universities all across the country have made an
effort to prevent such events and also provide support to the students if such an event does occur.
The mass notification system through text message has been taken very seriously so that the
students are alarmed about any possible shootings and that was shown when Purdue were quick
to alert the students about the shootings. Other important factors have also been considered like
providing mental health services to the students, state legislatures getting involved in campus
safety, etc. (Hattersley , 2008)
Gun-rights advocates believe allowing guns at universities is an extension of the
preservation of the constitutional right to bear arms. Supporters believe that restrictions of guns
on campus make students and professors vulnerable. They also believe that responsible armed
faculty and students can make campuses safer and prevent mass shootings like the one at
Virginia Tech. (Horner)
After analyzing our findings, our team recommends that Purdue have a program similar
to AlcoholEdu that educates the students about the concealed carry permits and restrictions if a
law allowing possession on campus was to be passed. This program could be funded by proceeds
from additional training courses and permits that the university could require a student to buy
before possessing a legally owned firearm on campus. We believe that one effective way to
introduce the allowance of guns on campus would be to make sure that the students are properly
Parkisnails 6

educated about the statistical safety of allowing guns on campus.

Conclusion
The issue of allowing/abolishing guns on college campuses is complex and many factors
must be considered. These factors range from statistics on crime to psychological effects. While
psychological fears pose a problem for allowing guns, statistical evidence shows that the
allowance of guns combined with training and the chance for self-defense could possibly
improve the safety of the campus. We believe that certain steps could be taken by Purdue
University to implement an educational program on firearms, allow the carry of firearms by
licensed students, and ultimately create a safer atmosphere for all.































Parkisnails 7


References
SCC. (2009, May). Crime on college campuses in the u.s.. Students for Concealed Carry. Retrieved from
http://concealedcampus.org/campus-crime/
Bouffard, J., Nobles, M., Wells, W., & Cavanaugh, M. (2011). How many more guns?: Estimating the effect of
allowing licensed concealed handguns on a college campus. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, doi:
10.1177/0886260511416478
Miller, M., Azrael, D., & Hemenway, D. (2000). Community firearms, community fear. Epidemiology, 11(6), 709-
714. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/3703828
Fortin, J. (2012, July 26). In the u.s. gun control debate, what can we learn from switzerland?. Retrieved from
http://www.ibtimes.com/us-gun-control-debate-what-can-we-learn-switzerland-732104
Leonard, M. (2013, 10 01). IU opposes bill prohibiting colleges from banning firearms on campuses. Herald Times.
Retrieved from http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?sid=f3425f7a-0041-41f3-89fc-
a0b297eb4dcc@sessionmgr111&vid=1&hid=122&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ==
Jones, K. W. (2009). The thirty-third victim: Representations of seung hui cho in the aftermath of the virginia tech
massacre. The Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth, 2(1), 64-82. Retrieved from
http://muse.jhu.edu.ezproxy.lib.purdue.edu/journals/journal_of_the_history_of_childhood_and_youth/v002
/2.1.jones.html
School associated student homicides - united states, 1992-2006. (2008). Morbitidy and Mortality Weekly Report,
57(2), 33-36. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/23318952
Livingston , M. (2014, January 21). Purdue university policy prohibits gun use, possession on campus. IndyStar.
Retrieved from http://www.indystar.com/story/news/education/2014/01/21/purdue-university-policy-
prohibits-gun-use-possession-on-campus/4721777/
Potter, D. (2011, March 30). Virginia tech fined $55k for response to shootings. Forbes.
Hattersley , R. (2008, February 29). Virginia tech 1 year later: How campuses have responded. Campus Safety
Magazine, Retrieved from http://www.campussafetymagazine.com/article/Virginia-Tech-1-Year-Later-
How-Campuses-Have-Responded
Harnisch, T. L. (2008, 11). Concealed weapons on state college campuses: In pursuit of individual liberty and
collective security. Retrieved from
http://www.aascu.org/policy/publications/policymatters/2008/gunsoncampus.pdf
NRA-ILA. (15 July 2013). Indiana Gun Laws. NRA-ILA Institute for Legislative Action. Retrieved from
http://www.nraila.org/gun-laws/state-laws/indiana.aspx
NCSL. (2014, January). Guns on Campus: Overview. National Conference of State Legislatures. Retrieved from
http://www.ncsl.org/research/education/guns-on-campus-overview.aspx
Armed Campuses. (2013). Guns on Campus Laws for Public Colleges and Universities: A Guide for Students and
Parents. Armed Campuses. Retrieved from
http://www.armedcampuses.org/\

Horner, J. (n.d.). Should students and faculty be allowed to carry guns on college campuses? . Retrieved from
http://www.annenbergclassroom.org/speakout/should-students-and-faculty-be-allowed-to-carry-guns-on-
college-campuses





Parkisnails 8

Appendix



<Figure 1>

Parkisnails 9


<Figure 2>


<Figure 3>

Parkisnails 10


<Figure 4>


<Figure 5>

Parkisnails 11


<Figure 6>

<Figure 7>

Parkisnails 12


<Figure 8>


<Figure 9>

Parkisnails 13


<Figure 10>


<Figure 11>


<Figure 12>


Parkisnails 14


<Figure 13. A table showing demographical statistics of a random-digit dial survey conducted in 1999. The first
column N represents the number of subjects. The next three columns show percentages of survey responses asking
about how safe a subject feels towards an increase in gun ownership in the community.>