The Senate Judiciary Committee recommended Senate Bill 10, the Campus Self-Defense Act, for passage, sending the bill to the full state Senate for consideration.

SB 10 would lift prohibitions on colleges and university students from carrying a concealed handgun on campus as long as they have a current and valid concealed carry permit beginning July 1, 2024. The bill prohibits the Higher Education Policy Commission, the Community and Technical College System of West Virginia, or college/university governing boards from restricting concealed carry on campuses.

Exceptions include prohibiting concealed carry at organized events at stadiums and arenas with more than 1,000 spectators, daycare facilities on campus, areas used by law enforcement, facilities with armed personnel and metal detectors, at formal disciplinary and grievance hearings, sole occupancy offices, at primary or secondary school-sponsored events on a college campus, at private functions, laboratories, and areas where patient care or mental health services are being provided,

The bill also prohibits concealed carry at on-campus residence halls except for common areas, such as lounges, dining areas, and study halls. Colleges/universities must provide secure storage for weapons at residence halls and can charge fees for storage. The bill also allows colleges and universities to take disciplinary action against students who violate the state’s concealed carry laws and provisions of the bill. It also protects colleges and universities from liability.

“I don’t view this as making anyone less safe,” said state Sen. Mike Stuart, R-Kanawha. “This puts some parameters around it. I think it’s a good bill.”

“I just think it is insane that we’re opening up campuses … I think it’s insane to put this in code that it’s OK to carry guns on college campuses,” said state Sen. Mike Caputo, D-Marion. “I think it’s a huge burden that we’re putting on the universities. I think it’s going to be a huge cost. I think it’s going to be a huge headache. I just hope and pray we’re not having a conversation about how this was a bad idea. I really hope it works out.”

According to the advocacy group Students for Concealed Carry, 11 states allow for some form of campus concealed carry as of 2020, while 16 states prohibit concealed carry on campus. Another 23 states allow colleges and universities to make their own rules regarding concealed carry.

There have been several attempts by the Legislature to pass a campus carry bill, including in 2019, when a similar bill passed the House of Delegates 59-41 but was never taken up by the Senate. Yet, the effort to pass the bill revealed divisions within the Republican caucus at the time, between 2nd Amendment absolutists who want no restrictions, and moderate Republicans that believe college campuses needed strong rules in place for campus carry.

The bill was also opposed by the state’s top two institutions of higher education: West Virginia University and Marshall University. Former Marshall President Jerome Gilbert was a vocal opponent of campus carry. WVU President Gordon Gee was also not supportive, though WVU officials did work with lawmakers to craft amendments to make the bill more acceptable.

The 2019 bill also had a price tag. According to a fiscal note submitted by the HEPC, it would have cost the state’s colleges and universities as much as $11.6 million in the first full year had the law been enacted. Rob Alsop, the vice president for strategic initiatives at WVU, told lawmakers Wednesday that the cost for WVU alone could be more than $350,000.

Gee and current Marshall University President Brad Smith wrote a letter to lawmakers Wednesday expressing their opposition to SB 10.

“We, at West Virginia University and Marshall University, support local control, and we believe that our boards of governors are best suited to decide whether guns should be permitted on campus. We therefore do not support statewide campus carry,” they wrote. “Whether it is mental health challenges facing some students, discussion about grades, recruitment of new students and faculty, or the protection of open and honest debate of ideas, we are concerned about inserting firearms into these types of situations.”

“We might see some additional costs, but from a security perspective for those large buildings and venues we have a police force on campus that works to keep us safe,” Alsop said.