Backers of a state law that would require Ball State and other universities to allow guns on campus admit that they're out of luck this year, but they hope to raise the issue next year in the General Assembly.
Jordan Stover, Indiana state director of Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, said the right to carry a firearm on campus is all about self-defense.
"It's the ability to defend yourself if your life is put in peril," he said. "The reality is we are trying to give people a chance, and some chance is better than no chance."
SCCC describes itself as a national organization that seeks to change state laws and school policies to favor campus carry. The group's publicity information said it has 4,300 members from colleges across the country.
Sen. Jim Banks, R-Columbia City, said he would like to work with other legislators to revisit the issue and give authority to the state rather than campus officials.
"I simply think these are issues that deserve a debate," he said. "Right or wrong, let's discuss and debate them to give students, who are lawfully licensed to carry, the chance to do so on college campuses in Indiana."
Proponents will be closely watching the outcome of decisions by lawmakers in Texas, where a proposed bill would allow concealed carry on all college campuses in the state.
The idea hasn't picked up much support at Ball State.
Senior public relations major Beth Cahill said she's leery of the idea of fellow students walking around with guns.
"Whatever it is, knowing that they might be around me in a classroom would make me uneasy," she said. "Deep down, I would constantly be distracted and on guard."
When not on a college campus, adults in Indiana are generally permitted to carry handguns in any vehicle or on their person so long as their license is in their possession.
Indiana law does not address the issue of carrying firearms on state college campuses — an issue sometimes referred to as "campus carry." State statute IC 35-47-9 addresses the legality of carrying firearms on school property, but the definition used in that statute applies to K-12 school corporations.
Though that law doesn't prohibit firearms on campus, every state university in Indiana has policies that prohibit weapons. Violators can be fired, or face academic discipline, or be ejected from campus property if they are guests.
The Ball State weapons policy is found in Appendix O of the student code. It lists exceptions for police officers and certain other conditions.
Two years ago, Indiana legislators discussed a bill that would have permitted students and employees to carry firearms on college campuses, but it died in committee without a hearing.
Stover said if the rules in Indiana are going to change, that will have to happen in the legislature since the colleges have made their positions clear.
"In 2009, Senate Bill 12 was the real beginning of change to Indiana state law," he said. "It very blatantly showed intent to strip the universities of their power to regulate firearms, causing them to lobby heavily against its progress."
SB 12 was written by Sen. Johnny Nugent, R-Lawrenceburg, and he said, "A state educational institution may not regulate in any manner the ownership, possession, carrying, or transportation of firearms or ammunition."
No bills on campus carry have made any progress since then, including the current session.
At Ball State the school's public safety director is in no hurry to see that change.
Gene Burton said most people think of guns in the classroom and forget about dining halls, residence halls and other densely populated locations.
"There are a lot of scenarios that firearms advocates just have not thought about on the university campus," he said.
"That is a recipe for disaster."
2011 state legislation regarding gun possession
- SB 292, authored by Sen. Jim Tomes, R-Wadesville, would prohibit local firearm regulation, shifting the control to state jurisdiction. It provides the means for an individual to file suit if adversely affected by a local ordinance. The bill has passed the Senate and is in a House committee.
- SB 319, authored by Banks, died in committee without a hearing. It protects the right of the individual to store his or her lawful firearm in the locked trunk of his or her vehicle on K-12 school property, and lowers the punishment for possessing a firearm on school property from a felony to a misdemeanor.
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