Student group wants to pack heat on Pitt’s campus

Students for Concealed Carry on Campus would like to see Pitt’s policy changed so that if a… Students for Concealed Carry on Campus would like to see Pitt’s policy changed so that if a person shows up to class intending to use a gun, others can pull theirs out and shoot him.

“If the situation [of a school shooting] really occurred, I can’t say for sure if I’d be able to disarm it, but I like my odds so much better if I am at least able to carry my gun and have the opportunity to diffuse the situation,” David Brytus, a Pitt senior and the school’s campus leader for the group, said.

SCCC is a global Facebook group currently supported by more than 19,000 college students, faculty and parents.

In the wake of a string of campus shootings and heightened coverage of the group by the media, SCCC grew exponentially throughout the month of February, which it began with just more than 11,000 members.

The group’s website, ConcealedCampus.com, says its mission is comprised of two main objectives: First, to educate the public about concealed carry weapons laws in order to dispel myths and concerns, and second, to lobby the lawmakers at the state and university levels to change their policies to allow concealed handgun license holders to carry concealed weapons on campus.

“There is a wide discrepancy between the intent of campus gun bans and the actual consequences of such bans,” ConcealedCampus.com says.

“SCCC demands to know why individuals who are deemed by state and federal authorities to be competent and trustworthy enough to carry concealed handguns elsewhere are denied this right on college campuses.”

Under Pennsylvania state law, the possession of concealed weapons is allowed in shopping malls, movie theaters, churches, offices and many other public buildings.

Concealed carry is regulated in primary and secondary schools, but regulations for higher education campuses are left up to the individual institutions.

According to Pitt’s student code of conduct, “An offense related to welfare, health or safety is committed when a student uses, possesses or manufactures, without University authorization, firearms, explosives, weapons or other dangerous articles or substances injurious to person or property without consent or authorization, while on University Property.”

The University’s regulations for employees are virtually identical.

Pitt’s ability to override a citizen’s state right to bear licensed firearms is well-founded.

“The University is allowed to make whatever regulations they want that are related to the health, welfare and safety of its students so long as they are reasonable,” John Burkoff, a Pitt Law professor, said.

This means that not only is Pitt allowed to prevent students with concealed carry licenses from having their guns on campus, it also means it can prevent them from having them in their homes if they live in dorms or University-owned apartments.

“I think those laws are perfectly rational and would be upheld by any court,” Burkoff said.

Still, Brytus and SCCC feel these regulations could use a second look.

“People who have these concealed licenses don’t go looking for trouble,” Brytus said. “It’s a means of self-defense.”

ConcealedCampus.com supports this claim, saying, “Numerous studies by independent researchers and state agencies show that concealed handgun license holders are five times less likely than non-license holders to be arrested for violent crimes.”

Brytus and other group members know their objectives are often greeted with hesitation at best and outrage at worst by those who do not advocate the possession of concealed weapons, but they believe that some of these concerns could be assuaged if people would take the time to examine both sides of the issue.

“I know that if you have a responsible person, guns on the street can be a good thing,” Brytus said.

He feels that one of the biggest misconceptions people have surrounding concealed weapons is that it is concealed weapons laws that allow people with an intent to harm to procure weapons in the first place.

“What people forget is that students who shoot up schools are not licensed gun owners. These individuals have broken numerous gun laws to do what they do,” Brytus said.

“If someone makes their mind up to use a gun in a classroom, they aren’t going to see a ‘Gun-Free Zone’ sign on the door and think, ‘Oh, I guess I can’t have [my gun] in here.’ They’re going to read that sign and know that if they come into that room with a gun, they will be the only one and everyone else in the room will be innocent and helpless to do anything.”

Despite SCCC’s burgeoning support, not everyone is convinced that their objectives are for the greater good.

“I think that licensed means nothing,” Martin Greenberg, a social psychology professor at Pitt said.

“You can pass whatever criminal and mental background checks you must, but this is long-term ownership. It assumes a stability of character and it assumes the causes of people’s behavior reside in them, whereas a social scientist would say behavior is governed by external forces.”

As a social psychologist, Greenberg feels that society places too much emphasis on an individual’s commitment to intangible inner values like “doing the right thing” to dictate behavior and not enough on the presence and influence of social factors.

“I think [having guns in the classroom] is a health hazard. It assumes guns are going to be used, and can be used competently,” Greenberg said.

Members of SCCC acknowledge such concerns and admit they have no way of predicting how things would go if an armed student were to enter a classroom and University policy had changed to allow them to be in a position to retaliate.

“I can’t tell you 100 percent that I know what I’d do. It would depend on so many factors,” Nick Ingham, a Pitt junior who joined SCCC a few weeks ago said.

“But I’d like to say I could help. I’d like to think the possibility would exist that I could do something to change the outcome in a positive way.”

Although concealed weapons advocates and their opposition differ on the means by which the campus could be made safer, they mostly agree that the perception of safety at colleges has taken a hit in recent years.

Shady Henien, former president of Pitt’s Student Government Board, said he encountered many students who felt something needed to be done to make them feel safer around campus.

“A lot of students-mostly female-came up to me about feeling unsafe walking back at night from the library. Because of that, my board and I approached [Pitt police Chief] Tim Delaney about making pepper spray available to the students to be kept in their purses or book bags so that they can feel safer getting between campus and home late at night,” Shady Henien said.

Henien feels making pepper spray available to students who request it was an appropriate and necessary measure, but he thinks allowing concealed firearms would be another thing altogether.

“I believe that having a gun on campus is wrong. We don’t go to college in a war zone, we go to get an education. We’re not in Iraq, we’re at the University of Pittsburgh,” he said.

In a nation-wide effort to clear up what they feel are misconceptions about gun laws and gun owners, members of SCCC plan to participate in an “Empty Holster Protest” the week of April 21 through 25.

This year’s protest will be the second of its kind organized by SCCC. The group hopes that students will approach those wearing empty holsters on their belts and have a chance to talk, ask questions and learn the facts of concealed carry.