With House Bill 937 going into effect on October 1st, Students for Concealed Carry, N.C. State Chapter would like to respond to the recent claims made through editorials in this paper that all college-aged concealed carry holders are trigger-happy vigilantes looking for a fight. This is the furthest claim from the truth, and deserves to be looked at again.
Generally, CCW permit holders are among the most law-abiding citizens out there. But putting that aside, I think it’s only right to note that your editorial claims that we, CCW permit holders, will go to extreme lengths to stop an active shooter on campus. No sir, we won’t.
After meetings with campus police and other LEAs we have been told what we can and cannot do. We cannot retreat to our vehicle and respond to an incident across campus. We simply cannot. I have stressed this to the members in my club, and N.C. State Police Department will surely make sure this is known to CCW permit holders outside our community. The members in my club are also taking proactive steps to have multiple levels of security if leaving their car for an extended period of time such as lockboxes to place the firearm in.
In closing, if you believe campus is a safe haven from all crime you are, put plain and simply, wrong. Campus police does an excellent job, but they cannot be in every parking deck or lot at all times. Anyone is welcome to email me and speak about this subject.
Ross Pilotte
junior, fisheries and wildlife sciences, wildlife conservation