Q: What is a CHL, CHP, CCW, CCP?
A: A CHL is a Concealed Handgun License. A CCW is a Concealed Carry Weapons permit. Though different states chose to use one term or the other, they are effectively the same thing. These licenses are usually issued by the state to those who meet the age requirement, take a class, pass a written test and a shooting test, pass state and federal fingerprint and background checks, and pay a fee.
Q: Do you advocate every student and teacher carrying handguns on campus?
A: No, we simply want those individuals--age twenty-one and above, in most states--who possess valid concealed handgun licenses/concealed carry weapons permits to be afforded the same right to carry on college campuses that they are currently afforded virtually everywhere else.
Q: Why isn't the campus police force enough to keep campuses safe?
A: The Virginia Tech shootings clearly showed that a deranged gunman can do a great deal of damage in just the few minutes it takes campus police to arrive on the scene. Campus police simply cannot be dispatched in time to stop a madman from taking innocent lives. Only the people at the scene when the shooting starts--the potential victims--have the potential to stop such a shooting rampage before it turns into a bloodbath.
Q: I don't like the thought of college students carrying weapons in public.
A: In a few states license holders already carry on college campuses every day. In most states licensed college students are allowed to carry almost everywhere else. These responsible students already carry everyday, without incident, and there is no reason to believe they would demonstrate any less discretion or sound judgment if carrying on college campuses.
Q: Shouldn't people receive training before carrying concealed handguns?
A: In most states CHL/CCW holders have been educated and tested on both the basic rules of gun safety and the laws pertaining to carrying a concealed handgun, threatening to use deadly force, and using deadly force. They have also passed proficiency (shooting) test at a firing range.
Q: Can just anyone be licensed to carry a handgun?
A: No. Most states have strict rules on who can be issued a CHL.
For example, for a person to receive a concealed handgun license in Texas, he or she must:
- Be at
least 21 years of age
- Have had no felony convictions during his or her lifetime and no Class A or B misdemeanors within the past 5 years
- Have had no domestic violence
convictions within his or her lifetime
- Be a legal citizen of the United States
- Not be chemically dependent
(ie. a known drug user or alcoholic)
- Not delinquent in child support payments
- Be legally allowed to
purchase a handgun
- Have no court protective
order or restraining orders against him or her
- Not have been diagnosed
by a physician as suffering from a major psychiatric disorder or been hospitalized
for psychiatric problems
As you can see, to be licensed a person must meet many qualifications to ensure they have conducted themselves in accordance with the law and are mentally sound.
Q: Don't some states allow citizens to be issued concealed handgun licenses at the age of 18?
A: Yes, among the thirty-six ‘shall-issue’ states*—states where local authorities cannot require qualified applicants to "show a need" before the applicant is issued a concealed handgun license/concealed carry weapons permit—six states allow, without special provision, for any person eighteen years or older to be issued a concealed handgun license. These states are Indiana, Maine, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, and South Dakota.
Based on the FBI/Department of Justice violent crime statistics for the year 2006, the crime rates for these six states, when ranked with all fifty states and the District of Columbia, rank as follows:
Indiana – 30
Montana – 42
South Dakota – 47
New Hampshire – 48
North Dakota – 50
Maine – 51
Not only are Maine, North Dakota, New Hampshire, and South Dakota four of the five** U.S. states with the lowest crime rates, Montana has the tenth lowest crime rate, and Indiana isn’t even in the top 50%. Clearly these states’ lenient concealed handgun laws are not breeding generations of young violent offenders.
The extraordinarily low crime rates in these six states, coupled with the fact that these states have a combined population of only about 10,900,000 (approximately 1.6 million less than the combined population of America’s two largest cities—New York, NY, and Los Angeles, CA—and at approximately 1/3 the combined violent crime rate of those two cities) has lead Students for Concealed Carry on Campus to focus on the majority of ‘shall-issue’ states where the minimum age to receive a concealed handgun license is 21.
*Alaska (licenses are offered but not required to carry a concealed handgun), Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wyoming
**Vermont is ranked at 49—the third least violent state. Vermont neither requires nor offers a license to carry a concealed handgun.
Q: What about Vermont and Alaska, where a person can legally carry a concealed handgun without being licensed to do so? What about states that allow a person to openly carry a handgun without concealing it? What about teachers and administrators at elementary schools, middle schools, junior highs, and high schools who have concealed handgun licenses?
A: SCCC supports the legalization of CONCEALED carry by LICENSED individuals on COLLEGE campuses. SCCC has no official position on unlicensed concealed carry, open carry, or concealed carry on the campuses of primary or secondary schools.
Q: How can I learn
about the Concealed Carry laws in my state?
A: The website http://www.handgunlaw.us/ is a great resource for learning about Concealed Carry. It features a database of the relevant laws for each state.
Do you have a question about Concealed Carry on our Campuses? Contact us and ask!
Every day millions of licensed Americans legally carry concealed handguns in movie theaters, office buildings, shopping malls, banks, churches, etc.
Numerous studies show that concealed handgun license holders are five times less likely than non-license holders to commit violent crimes.
Campus "gun free zones" may make some people feel safer, but as recent events demonstrate, feeling safe is not the same as being safe.
CLICK HERE to learn the facts.
