Tennessee lawmakers are voting on a bill that would allow university employees to carry concealed weapons on college campuses. Currently, it is illegal to bring a gun onto the University of Memphis campus.
Full-time University of Memphis employees may soon be packing heat on campus, and M. David Rudd, university president, and Bruce Harber, chief of Campus Police Services, are not happy about it.
The two sent an email to U of M faculty and students Monday about a proposed Tennessee legislation that would allow full-time employees of the university with a state gun permit to carry handguns on campus.
“The University of Memphis has consistently been one of the safest places in the state,†their email said. “We believe our exemplary safety record is due in part to guns being prohibited on our campuses.â€
Rudd and Harber also said those who have permits are not necessarily trained how to use their guns in a crisis situation.
“More weapons on campus may result in more frequent emergency alerts … which will disrupt our academic mission and adversely impact student success,†the email said.
The U of M held active shooter training on March 1. During the event, Harber said he opposed the bill, and that “we are doing everything we can to keep it from happening.â€
“Firearms in the hands of untrained (or minimally trained) individuals can lead to bad decisions and tragic consequences,”-Harber
According to Harber, if the bill passes, police response to these stressful situations would take longer.
Harber said at the training event in March that more guns in any possible active shooter situation would complicate the scene, and it would take more time to respond appropriately.
Despite objections from president M. David Rudd and chief of campus police services Bruce Harber, full-time U of M employees may soon be allowed to carry handguns on campus. The two sent an email to students and faculty Monday stressing the potential issues of handguns on
campus.
Stuart Dedmon, U of M student and Tennessee’s state president of Students for Concealed Carry, disagreed with the email.
“I believe that Dr. Rudd’s statement is based on emotions and expected narratives rather than the facts that are readily available,†he said in an email to The Daily Helmsman.
“The observable facts are on the side of campus carry advocates. The proposed legislation in no way changes who has the lawful right to carry, it only removes the geographical barriers that are currently placed on permit-holding faculty,†Dedmon said in his email.
The university should be forced to follow the law if passed, even if administrators do not like it, Dedmon said.
“The University of Memphis is not a private institution, it is publicly funded and, therefore, should comply with public mandate.†However, Dedmon said fulltime employees should only use a gun for personal safety and let police handle emergency situations or a mass shooter.
“Contrary to what some opponents of campus carry might claim, permit holders don’t need extensive tactical training because they are not charged with protecting the public,†he said. “It’s not their job to act like amateur one-man SWAT teams.â€
