Fourteen Miami University students began the day Monday by wearing empty gun holsters to class and will do so for the rest of the week.
The students are part of a nationwide organization, Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, and are protesting for concealed carry laws on college campuses across the country. They have organized through their Web site, ConcealedCarry.org, and Facebook.com groups. Participating in this protest are more than 460 students nationwide at more than 100 universities, according to senior Stephen Feltoon, the organizer of the protest at Miami.
Although Ohio legislation makes it illegal to carry concealed weapons on college campuses, Feltoon said these students want to symbolize that citizens with concealed carry licenses are reduced to empty holsters once they reach campus. The protest will last throughout the week in an attempt to raise students' awareness about this issue. According to the Attorney General Web site the most recent update went into effect March 17.
"We want people to come up and ask questions ... It gives us a chance to educate them about current laws and our viewpoints," Feltoon said.
He added that the group wants to change the state laws that prohibit concealed carry on college campuses, arguing that educated people with concealed weapons could have saved lives during the shooting at Virginia Polytechnic University.
"We think one person at the right place at the right time could have lessened or eliminated the body count," Feltoon said.
University Provost Jeffery Herbst said this claim cannot be verified.
"I know of no law enforcement agency or official who has made that argument," he said. "Given that no one cares more about reducing crime than our law enforcement officials, I think they would say something if there was an argument to be made for that."
The Miami University Police Department (MUPD) conducts a yearly survey of a representative sample of students and the response is that most people feel safe on campus, according to MUPD Lieutenant Andrew Powers.
"With concealed carry being prohibited we still have a majority of respondents saying they feel safe on campus," Powers said.
The group is concerned that people will not notice the holsters or will be put off by the protest.
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"I'm worried more that people just won't notice," Feltoon said. "Anecdotal evidence shows that people who carry firearms in the public who are legally allowed to no one comes up to them."
Feltoon hopes that people won't be uncomfortable by the empty holsters.
"We are trying to be really receptive to comments," he said. "The point is not to scare anybody."
Miami's administration alerted students to the protest through an e-mail last week, informing the university that students would be wearing empty holsters to class.
"I thought it was reasonable because in the context of Virginia Tech and other things people might be uneasy if they saw people with gun holsters around," Herbst said.
The university made no comment of the appropriateness of the method of protest in regards to it being held so close to the Virginia Tech shooting incident.
"Our view is that it's protected speech and it's not our judgment to make whether it's appropriate or not," Herbst said.
Miami University police are not doing anything out of procedure in response to the protest.
"We don't anticipate any significant problems, but we are obviously prepared to respond if we need to," Powers said.
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