Some Ohio universities announce they'll continue to have unarmed students to be preyed upon

In the wake of passage of legislation which will allow colleges and universities in Ohio the choice of whether to allow concealed carry on their campuses, several Ohio colleges have already announced to would-be attackers that they will not face the threat of armed response from their intended victims.

Officials from Wright State, Ohio State, Bowling Green and the University of Toledo have already announced that they have no plans to change their current policies, which deny students their Constitutional right to bear arms for self-defense. [Update: Officials at Kent State, the University of Cincinnati, Miami and Xavier have announced the same.]

In an email frought with inaccuracies about the legislation that was passed into law, University of Toledo President Sharon L. Gaber, Ph.D. stated that "A safe environment for students, employees, faculty, patients and visitors to campus remains the University’s top priority. Deadly weapons in University buildings and venues will continue to be strictly prohibited." Dr. Graber did not say how she believes the university's "no-guns" signs and policies will stop someone intent on harming others on campus.

The leaders of Buckeye Firearms Foundation's FASTER Saves Lives program say they are aware of other institutions of higher learning in the state that do intend to exercise their new right to allow concealed carry on campus.

And in Florida, one university is so intent on protecting its students, despite a campus concealed carry ban still in effect in that state, that they're working with a local sheriff to train and deputize staff members to get around that state's concealed carry ban.

In addition to giving colleges and universities the choice to allow concealed carry on campus, changes passed in Senate Bill 199 also reduce the penalty for violating a ban on campus carry, and establish a graduated penalty system for repeat offenses.

Under the new law, which will become effective in about 90 days, the penalties for violating a campus concealed carry ban will be as follows:

• First offense - minor misdemeanor
• Second offense - misdemeanor of the fourth degree
• Third offense - misdemeanor of the third degree
• Four or more offenses - misdemeanor of the second degree

Formerly, the charge for carrying concealed on a college campus was a fifth-degree felony.

Chad D. Baus is the Buckeye Firearms Association Secretary, BFA PAC Vice Chairman, and an NRA-certified firearms instructor. He is the editor of BuckeyeFirearms.org, which received the Outdoor Writers of Ohio 2013 Supporting Member Award for Best Website.