The new Campus Carry law is in full effect.  Those who obtain the Enhanced Carry Permit can carry on public college campuses without fear of repercussion.  There are places on campus where students are still not allowed to carry, Enhanced Permit or not.  Some of those places include dormitories, sporting arenas, and any other facility that has a seating capacity of 1,000 or more.  There are still many unanswered questions regarding the new law that will have to be answered.  What isn’t a question however, is the reason why the new security measures are being implemented.

For decades metal detectors were not present on BSU’s campus.  Security measures were very minimal.  It is clear to us that rapists, gang bangers, psycopaths, and terrorists did not exist before the new Campus Carry law was passed.  The criminals just didn’t go to BSU because they knew that guns weren’t allowed.  With Campus Carry however, those types of individuals are going to be running rampant on BSU’s campus?  Surely that is the reason BSU is going to spend $2 million dollars on increased security.  We certainly hope it is not because law abiding citizens are now allowed to defend themselves.  The new security measures implemented by BSU are purely political.  BSU has even admitted that the new measures are a result of the Campus Carry law.  The new measures are not about the result of criminal activity or the fear of it.

Surely Mr. Kustra knows that students were already carrying guns on his campus BEFORE the new law was passed.  If not, then news flash Mr. Kustra, students have been carrying guns on your campus for decades now.  How do I know this? I was one of them!  I refused to be a victim.  And I knew dozens of other people who carried as well.  Even now, students with the Standard Permit are carrying on your campus. They would rather face expulsion for violating a mis-guided policy rather than end up in a grave.

Thankfully the University of Idaho was the only public university to look at the evidence of having guns on campus.  Their conclusion was that this law changed nothing.  They did not want the law but at least they looked at the evidence.  The University of Idaho looked at the other states who have Campus Carry and found NO EVIDENCE that such security measures would be necessary.  I challenge Mr. Kustra to find one shred of evidence that there is a problem on a college campus where guns are allowed because there isn’t one.

Better yet, we challenge Mr. Kustra to sit down with us in an open forum to discuss his new security measures.  What say your Mr. Kustra?

Greg Pruett-President, Idaho Second Amendment Alliance