At Least 8 States Seek Some Form of Campus Carry for Self-Defense
Lawmakers in at least eight states are pushing to ease gun restrictions on college campuses so law-abiding citizens have a means of self-defense, according to a FOX News report.
These states are “Florida, Louisiana, New Hampshire, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Virginia, and Wyoming.”
A bill in Florida would allow “students, faculty and staff to carry weapons on public college campuses.”
KPLC notes that Louisiana’s HB 99 “would allow anyone 18 years of age or older and legally authorized to possess a firearm to carry one on campus and inside university buildings.”
In South Dakota, Senate Bill 100 allows law-abiding citizens to be armed to defend themselves on college campuses. And in Wyoming, Stateline reported that “lawmakers debated a measure that would have allowed anyone eligible under the state’s ‘constitutional carry’ law to carry concealed firearms on college campuses.” This measure was not adopted. As the law currently stands, the only people allowed to carry items on campus in Wyoming are those who have a “state-issued concealed carry permit.”
On March 12, 2026, a gunman entered a classroom on the unarmed campus of Old Dominion University and killed one person because he was stopped by a group of ROTC students.
Stateline quoted John Lott as saying: “All you’re doing by creating a gun-free zone is creating a magnet – just read the newspapers and the manifestos. All you’re doing is creating a magnet for people who want to go out and kill people.”
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is a political analyst for Armed American Radio and director of global marketing for Lone Star Hunts. He holds a doctorate in military history with a specialization in the Vietnam War (Brown Water Navy), the United States Navy since its inception, the Civil War, and modern Europe. He enjoys reading philosophy and the novels of Jack Carr and Nelson DeMille. Follow him on X: @awrhawkins. You can sign up for Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Contact him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.
