Social Status and the Effects of Legal Concealed Firearms on College Campuses

Abstract

Research consistently shows that students and faculty are generally against expanding access to firearms on campus, and many stakeholders worry about the effects of campus carry laws on student violence, civility, and feelings of safety. We contribute to this literature by investigating how potential changes to campus carry policies affect students' reported commitment to campus activities. Theories explaining fear of crime and social commitment led to hypotheses that predict members of socially disadvantaged groups-specifically women and minority students-would report less favorable attitudes toward gun possession on campus, greater feelings of vulnerability to victimization, and less commitment to the college environment when students or staff may possess guns. Hypotheses received support, and add to the growing literature documenting potential issues that legislators, administrators, and faculty might consider when debating the enactment of campus carry policies.

Acculturation and Campus Carry: Examining the Effect of Mexico Versus United States Cultural Orientations on College Students’ Support for Campus Carry

“…Third, many-although not all-of the predictors associated with campus carry in the existing literature achieved significance in the present study as well. Consistent with prior studies (Satterfield & Wallace, 2020;Soboroff et al, 2019), conservative-leaning individuals and men were more likely to support campus carry than liberal-leaning individuals and women, respectively. Non-Latinx Black people were also less likely than non-Latinx white people to support campus carry.…”

“…Estimates of faculty, staff, and administrators' opposition to campus carry range from 62% to 94% (Beggan, 2019;. Between 15% and 57% of students support concealed carry on campus (McMahon-Howard et al, 2020;Soboroff et al, 2019). In contrast, 39% to 82% of college students oppose campus carry (Satterfield & Wallace, 2020;.…”

“…Among the U.S. general population, conservatives are more likely to support relaxing gun laws (Wozniak, 2017). Identifying as Republican or conservative also increases support for campus carry and personal interest in carrying a handgun on campus among students (Satterfield & Wallace, 2020;Soboroff et al, 2019).…”

“…Findings on race are mixed. While some studies report that white faculty, staff, and students are more likely to support campus carry or intend to acquire a conceal carry license for campus carry (Kyle et al, 2017;Soboroff et al, 2019), others do not find race to be a significant predictor (Kruis et al, 2020;Wallace, 2019). Additionally, one study reported that white college students were more likely than Black students to support campus carry, but Black college students expressed a greater interest in actually carrying a concealed handgun if permitted (Satterfield & Wallace, 2020).…”

“…Research overwhelmingly demonstrates that men are more likely than women to support campus carry (Sandersen et al, 2018;Soboroff et al, 2019). A few studies, however, find gender to be unrelated to support for campus carry (Bennett et al, 2012;Kruis et al, 2020).…”