By STEVEN SPEARS and LEAH WANKUM
Muleskinner Staff

Editor’s note: This is the second in a two-part series on concealed carry laws in Missouri. Click here for the first part of the series.

Proposed state legislation that would allow concealed carry of firearms on college campuses has sparked debate among UCM faculty and staff.

Senate bills 589 and 731 would remove wording related to higher education institutions from current conceal and carry laws, allowing individuals with valid permits to carry concealed weapons on campus. Both bills are currently being discussed on the Missouri Senate floors.

The UCM Professional Staff Council discussed guns on campus legislation at a public meeting Feb. 11 in the Elliott Student Union. Chris Beggs, president of the Professional Staff Council, said many people raised concerns both for and against the legislation at the forum.

“I speak on behalf of all professional staff, and I’m saying, at that meeting the preponderance of folks were not in support of guns on campus,” Beggs said. “There were people that were worried about how we are going to enact this as a policy. There were people who were worried about how we can pay for it, and I honestly think there were people who were just worried from a safety standpoint…and then also people who were for guns on campus.”

Beggs said staff who voiced concerns informed his opinion against the proposed legislation.

“Our counseling center staff say it’s a problem, and so I take their recommendation because they’re experts in mental health, and our public safety folks say it creates issues,” Beggs said.

Paul Polychronis, director of the university’s counseling center, said the guns on campus legislation needs to be looked at as a public health issue. He said traditional college students ages 18 to 24 are at half the risk of suicide than their peers who are not in college.

“A lot of researchers think the primary reason (between the difference in suicide rates) is means restriction – the no-guns-on-campus rules that campuses have,” he said. “To become more permissive and allow guns on campus, you know, would be a very dangerous thing from a public health standpoint in terms of suicide prevention.”

A Missouri resident must be at least 19 years old to apply for a concealed carry permit, compared with most states, where the minimum age is 21, according to a document on weapons law published by the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

Scott Rhoad, director of the UCM Department of Public Safety, said the minimum age for concealed carry in Missouri allows for more potential gun carriers on campus.

“I just think that if we’re not careful, we’re putting a lot of responsibility on a 19-year-old, assuming that if they have a gun, they will step in the middle of a situation to stop an active shooter and take the responsibility for those actions,” Rhoad said. “As law enforcement arrive, who’s the good guy and who’s the bad guy? They both have guns. From the law enforcement perspective, if you’re the good guy with a gun shooting at the bad guy and all I see is two guys shooting each other, that’s not good.”

Polychronis said the brain finishes developing around age 25. He said the difference in brain development between the ages might be meaningful, but more emphasis should be placed on the individual.

“Sometimes people are not allowed to have things,” he said. “How come you can’t buy a nuclear weapon? Because it’s too dangerous… You know, for some reason, our culture really can’t seem to grasp this idea that it’s dangerous to have firearms readily available.”

Randy Beers, a member of the Professional Staff Council who participated in the Feb. 11 forum, said he is in favor of allowing concealed carry of weapons on campus, mostly because he’s a big supporter of the Second Amendment.

“Any restriction in (concealed carry) in any place is something I’m not for,” Beers said. “Nobody should have any places restricted… should the (Missouri) Capitol grounds be? No, that shouldn’t be a place where you should not be able to carry a weapon.”

At the Feb. 11 forum, Beggs passed along an email from a staff member who said he and many of his colleagues at Max B. Swisher Skyhaven Airport, support the proposed legislation. The email expressed concerns from airport staff and faculty, who “conveyed their sentiment of feeling ‘like a sitting duck’ in a gun-free zone,” according to the Feb. 11 Professional Staff Council tentative meeting minutes.

Rhoad said people carrying concealed weapons on campus are faced with a choice during active shooter situations.

“Maybe I have (a gun), but do I want that responsibility of interacting with a potential active shooter?” Rhoad said. “Do I want to go engage? Do I want to be that person? I can’t tell anybody to do things like that. I can tell police officers to do that. That’s what we’re for. That’s our job. That’s not a student’s job.”

Beers said personal responsibility for weapons in general is the root of safety issues.

“People are always saying that having a gun is dangerous,” he said. “Well, driving a car is dangerous. It’s your personal responsibility to make sure you’re using it in an appropriate way.”