Another voice has been added to the opposition to allowing college students to carry concealed guns on college campuses. Michael Stipe, leader of alternative-rock group R.E.M., penned an editorial this week asking Gov. Nathan Deal not to sign House Bill 859.
"Like many other Georgians, I am worried about how guns on campus would affect college life," wrote Stipe, whose editorial appeared in USA Today. "I worry about what it means when loaded guns are allowed at a tailgate where alcohol is being served. I'm concerned for survivors of sexual assault who may soon have to face an armed assailant at the time of the crime and again at their disciplinary hearing."
Deal has until May 3 to decide whether the "campus carry" bill should become law. HB 859, passed by lawmakers earlier this year, would allow anyone 21 or older with a weapon license to carry a gun anywhere on a public college or university campus, except in dormitories, fraternity and sorority houses and at athletic events. It also would mandate that the weapons be concealed, which proponents say adds a layer of safety because carry permits require fingerprinting and background checks.
Deal unsuccessfully pushed for changes to the bill that would have exempted on-campus day care centers, disciplinary hearings and faculty and administrative offices from the measure.
“I’m worried about classrooms,” wrote Stipe. “If students are debating a contested subject — which is crucial to learning and expanding their worldviews — I worry what will happen to that open and honest conversation when the participants know that the people around them could have loaded guns in their backpacks.”
The “campus carry” issue hits close to home for Stipe, who writes that he met his future R.E.M. bandmates when they were all students at the University of Georgia in Athens.
“It was there that we started playing together and performing and years later, several of us still call Athens home.”
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