Citation

Dahl PP, Bonham G, Reddington FP. Community Coll. J. 2016; 40(8): 706-717.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/10668926.2015.1124813

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This exploratory research surveyed faculty who instruct in community colleges from 18 states about their attitudes toward the concealed carry gun policies that allow appropriately licensed citizens to carry a handgun in public places such as college campuses. Building upon previous research involving 4-year institutions, we surveyed 1,889 community college faculty who work in states that allow some flexibility in determining concealed carry policies and practices. Descriptive statistics, background characteristics, exposure to the use and ownership of firearms, and attitudinal questions about safety concerns, victimization history, and opinions about allowing concealed carry on community college campuses were analyzed. Our analyses revealed that the majority of community college faculty felt safe on their campuses, were not supportive of having students, faculty, or visitors conceal carry on their campuses, and they believed anyone granted a concealed carry permit should have to first pass a firearms training course. Our findings add to the current guns-on-campus discussions by illustrating that there is an across-the-board consensus among different types of postsecondary education institutions and levels of faculty who wish to stave off permitting lawful guns on their campuses. Further, our study suggests that faculty overwhelmingly feel that allowing guns on campuses would change the atmosphere from one that feels safe to one that feels uncharacteristically threatening. The number of American colleges and universities that permit concealed firearms on campus is small, but the number is growing as is the magnitude of the debate regarding guns on campus. Research has been conducted to ascertain the popularity of this policy among the major players: namely students, faculty, staff, and administration. Most of the research has focused on the community members of 4-year colleges and universities. This research, while replicating a study by Thompson, Price, Dake, and Teeple (2013), investigated the attitudes and perceptions of faculty who instruct in community colleges from 18 states. The states were chosen because in these locations the colleges have some flexibility in determining their weapons policy.

Language: en