A proposed bill that would allow certain faculty and staff to carry a concealed firearm on college and university campuses does not sit well with at least one chancellor in the University of Arkansas System.
Paul Beran, chancellor of the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith, said he would be in favor of the system using an amendment in the bill that would allow the UA System to opt out of allowing staffers to carry on campus.
“I’m going to be loyal and support whatever the board decides we need to do. (But) as the chancellor do I think it would be a good thing for the campus? No, I do not,” Beran said.
He said the campus has a good police force that responds to incidents quickly. And although the bill, HB1243, requires training for any staff that wants to carry, he said it would not benefit his campus.
“We’ve not had any incidents where people, civilians with minimal training, would have been an asset in any situations that we’ve had here,” Beran said. “I think it could put people at greater risk.”
Should there be an active shooter or other risk to campus, the chancellor said an armed staff would not be an advantage.
“When you have an incident on campus, that is a crisis incident that involves gun fire of any kind, then it’s going to complicate the situation considerably to have multiple people in civilian clothes with guns drawn,” Beran added. Click here to read the full story from our partners at TheCityWire.com.
