Overwhelming Majority Of College Presidents Oppose Allowing Guns On Campus, Research Finds

Allowing Guns On Campus Is A Terrible Idea, Says Nearly Every College President In Survey
Protestors rally on the steps of the Idaho Statehouse in Boise, Idaho to protest SB1254, a bill seeking to allow concealed weapons on the state's college campuses, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2014.(AP Photo/John Miller)
Protestors rally on the steps of the Idaho Statehouse in Boise, Idaho to protest SB1254, a bill seeking to allow concealed weapons on the state's college campuses, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2014.(AP Photo/John Miller)

Nearly every college president opposes allowing guns on campus, according to a new survey.

Research from Ball State University publicized Monday showed 95 percent of college presidents and chancellors oppose permiting firearms on their campuses. The survey of 401 college chief executives identified accidental shootings of fellow students as their top concern with allowing guns on campus.

In addition, the survey found 98 percent of college presidents believe students and faculty feel safe on their campuses.

The findings were published in the report "University Presidents’ Perceptions and Practice Regarding the Carrying of Concealed Handguns on College Campuses." It was publicized less than two weeks after six students were slain near the University of California-Santa Barbara, as 22-year-old Elliot Rodger shot eight people and stabbed three others to death.

There were at least 27 shootings on or near college campuses in 2013.

Allowing guns on campus is proving to be one of the most unpopular proposals in the collegiate world. Legislation to allow firearms at colleges has faced opposition nationwide, including in conservative states.

Previous research from Ball State, surveying students at 15 Midwestern colleges, similarly found four-in-five students oppose allowing guns on campus.

The 2007 massacre at Virginia Tech remains the most deadly mass school shooting in the U.S. The event left 33 people dead.

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