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Kentucky representative presented a bill to the House of Representatives Tuesday that would allow people with valid licenses to carry concealed weapons on public elementary and secondary school grounds, as well as public college campuses like UK. 

The bill follows President Barack Obama’s recent executive action requiring stricter background checks and also requiring people selling firearms to register as gun dealers, even if they operate on a small scale. 

Ilya Chernyavskiy, the Kentucky state director of Students for Concealed Carry, said the current concealed carry policy leaves students unarmed and in danger.
The role of concealed carry is to act as a pro-second amendment group that advocates for concealed carry on college campuses. 

“By allowing more people to protect themselves, we’re seeing a decrease in crime,” Chernyavskiy said. “It puts the burden of self-defense on the person, not the police.”

UK’s Concealed Carry students petitioned to change the state law in order to allow students to carry a weapon in their car or glove box, but the group is not currently active.

David Burnett, a UK graduate and former UK chair of Concealed Carry, said education is one of the keys to helping people feel more comfortable around guns and with those who chose to carry. 

“The only reason UK hasn’t seen a mass shooting is because no one has wanted to engage it,” Burnett said, citing the lack of armed guards and other protections as holes in student security. 

But Burnett countered his indictment of UK security by saying the institution of the text alert system has helped to prepare campus for emergencies. Still, he argued that decreased restrictions on conceal and carry would allow members of the UK community to “throw more than a pencil” at an attacker.
Sean Simons, Deputy Press Secretary for Americans for Responsible Solutions, said there was a gun violence problem in America, and the statistics, “make America stand out against peer developed countries in a way we don’t want to.”

Americans for Responsible Solutions is a national organization founded in 2013 after Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was shot at a public meeting near Tucson.  
The organization attempts to take a moderate approach to an often polarized issue. 

Obama’s recent executive order will strengthen background check requirements and change how small private retailers sell firearms. But Chernyavskiy said he believes Obama’s orders will not change anything, especially from a conceal and carry standpoint. Burnett said they would be unenforceable.

To carry a concealed weapon, a person must be 21 or over, be a Kentucky citizen, pass a background check and demonstrate competence to be in a firearm safety class.
According to the Gun Violence Archive, there were 13,351 gun related deaths in 2015. This number included accidental deaths as well. 

Burnett said conceal and carry on campus is, “one of the best ways for a woman to protect herself.” In a situation where size or experience may mean women are unable to defend herself, he said, “guns are the great equalizers.”
According to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, women are 11 times more likely to be killed by a gun.

While Americans for Responsible Solutions may not be focusing on guns on college campuses, the age range of college students is something to consider. 
“Gun violence is touching our local community and people are not as isolated as they used to be,” Simons said. “Gun violence knows no bounds.”