Utah's Well-Armed Students

In only state where concealed weapons are allowed on campus, many take advantage

By Nick McMaster, Newser Staff

Posted Feb 21, 2008 2:29 PM CST

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Utah's Well-Armed Students — Brent Tenney displays his Glock 9mm semi-automatic handgun on the University of Utah campus where he is a student Wednesday, April 25, 2007, in Salt Lake City. Tenney says he feels relatively safe when he goes to class at the university, but the 24-year-old business major doesn't want to take any chances... (Associated Press)

While many states have responded to recent college shootings by debating whether firearms should be allowed on campus, Utah is the only one with such a law on the books—and students at its public universities are taking advantage, CNN reports. Predictably, while some students say they feel safer with their guns on hand, others say it makes classrooms even scarier.

Utah's public universities are fighting to reinstate a concealed-weapons ban struck down by the state’s supreme court in 2006. Some students agree, but others say they would lose security: “I feel able to protect myself," said one student who singled out the Virginia Tech massacre as his primary motivation in keeping a gun with him in class. (More University of Utah stories.)

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