<![CDATA[Jim Justice]]>

West Virginia governor signs campus carry into law

March 1, 2023 by Cam Edwards Leave a Comment

Starting on July 1st of next year, West Virginia’s public colleges and universities will no longer be “gun-free zones” where the right to bear arms is not allowed. On Wednesday morning, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice signed SB 10 into law, completing the legislation’s rapid journey into law. While SB 10 was just introduced less than two months ago the push for campus carry has actually gone on for several years in the state; failing to reach the finish line in 2018 and again the following year. Objections from higher-ed officials weren’t enough to sideline the measure this time around, unlike in past sessions, and Justice said on Wednesday morning that the new law will ensure that students and staff can defend themselves if necessary from an attack on campus.

The Governor was joined at the ceremony by members of the NRA and other government officials.
‘We need to stand rock solid by who we are and by the Second Amendment and all the greatness that we are in this great state and the send the message to the world, by God if you wanna mess with us, we can mess back, ‘ Gov. Justice said.
“The Campus Self-Defense Act recognizes the fact that danger doesn’t disappear just because you’ve stepped onto campus grounds,” said NRA’s West Virginia State Director Art Thomm. “Now, those who choose to exercise the right will have the ability to protect themselves, their classmates, and their loved ones should they need.”

There are some exceptions in the new law, including continuing to prohibit firearms at stadiums or arenas that can hold more than 1,000 people and requiring concealed carry holders who live in dorms to keep their firearms stored in a secure facility outside of their dorm rooms. But campuses and the vast majority of classroom buildings will no longer be considered “sensitive places” where guns can be banned, and that’s a very good thing.

With Justice putting pen to paper, there are now a dozen states across the country that have campus carry laws in place, though there might be small variances in state statutes. And based on past experience, my guess is that the controversy over campus carry in West Virginia will soon die down, at least until next July. There’ll be another flurry of op-eds and outrage when the law takes effect, but that won’t last beyond a typical news cycle. The predictions of classroom debates devolving into gunfights, students angrily confronting professors with a gun over a bad grade, and a mass exodus of students and staff in light of the new law won’t come to pass, and campus carry will become a non-issue just like it is in states like Texas, Kansas, and Utah.

One notable exception is Colorado, where some student activists are currently trying to get the state board of regents to the repeal campus carry law that’s been in place for decades; not because of any particular incident, but because of their anti-gun ideology. In a blue state like Colorado those repeal efforts might get some traction, but they’re not likely to be replicated in red states like West Virginia.

Congratulations to West Virginia gun owners, legislators, and Gov. Jim Justice for their successful effort to expand the Second Amendment’s protections to college and university settings. This is a big step forward, and hopefully it spurs lawmakers in other red states to join in the cause and ensure that the right to keep and bear arms doesn’t disappear at the borders of a public university.

West Virginia governor gives thumbs up to campus carry bill: “It may save a bunch of lives”

February 23, 2023 by Cam Edwards Leave a Comment

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice has given his full-fledged support for a bill allowing concealed carry holders to bear arms on public college and university campuses, telling reporters that while he knows the bill is controversial in some quarters, he’ll “proudly” put pen to paper and sign SB 10 as soon as it gets to his desk.

The legislation cleared its final hurdle in the statehouse earlier this week when House lawmakers overwhelmingly voted in favor, despite objections from some students and faculty at West Virginia and Marshall universities, who claim that the measure will make campuses less safe. Speaking with the press on Wednesday, Justice pushed back on that premise and said the presence of armed citizens will be a benefit in the case of an active shooter.

“We see all across this nation where we have bad actors and bad actors doing stuff at a lot of our school campuses,” he said of mass shootings. “We see buildings that are soft targets with no firearms allowed.”
Ohio and Texas have had “campus carry” for years and years, he said.

Well, not Ohio, unfortunately, though students at the Ohio State University can at least store their concealed firearms in their vehicle while on campus. But campus carry has been in effect in Texas since 2016, and despite protests at the time it’s a non-issue now. The same is true in most of the other campus carry states, with the exception of Colorado, where student gun control activists are lobbying the state’s board of regents to make college and university campuses “gun-free zones.” The recent push isn’t related to any specific incident, but has more to do with the fact that in 2021 Colorado Democrats repealed the state’s firearm preemption law, freeing up political subdivisions (including the regents) to impose gun control restrictions that go beyond what’s found in state statute. Theoretically that means that the board has the authority to re-instate the ban that was in place until 2012, though doing so would undoubtably invite a lawsuit.

Anyway, that’s another post for another time. In West Virginia firearms preemption is still the law of the land, just like campus carry will be once Justice gets ahold of SB 10.

Justice said he “strongly” believes in the bill and when it comes to his desk he will sign it “in just a few seconds.”
“I believe people who have conceal carry permits are law-abiding, good people with rock solid credentials,” he said. “It (the bill) may save a bunch of lives.”

I actually hope that’s not the case, because I hope that West Virginia never sees the kind of campus violence that we’ve seen at universities like Virginia Tech, Northern Illinois University, and most recently at Michigan State. But while we hope for the best we plan for the worst contingencies, and Justice is right that if someone with evil in their heart and mass murder on their mind does target a college campus in West Virginia, a “guns not allowed” sign isn’t going to stop them.

There’s no guarantee that an armed student or faculty member would be able to do so either, but SB 10 at least increases the odds of that happening, as well as giving students and staff the ability to protect themselves from more commonplace criminal activity like robberies and carjackings.

I suspect this bill will not only benefit law-abiding West Virginians, but Justice as well, at least if he does decide to run for U.S. Senate next year. Campus carry may be unpopular and controversial in progressive circles, but in West Virginia those circles are pretty small, and Justice’s support for the Second Amendment will go a long way with West Virginia voters.