Private university becomes 1st in Ohio to allow concealed guns on campus

Trustees at an independent Baptist college voted this week to approve a policy that will allow faculty and staff with concealed carry permits to bring their handguns on campus.

The move, by Cedarville University, would take effect in August and could be the first in Ohio to adopt such a policy in the wake of a bill signed last December by Republican Gov. John Kasich freeing schools to decide their own gun free zones.

“Our campus is a very safe campus as it is,” Cedarville President Thomas White told WDTN. “We are very conservative. We don’t allow alcohol on campus and so it’s a very safe campus and environment. This may help a person if they were to have to defend themselves but I don’t anticipate a lot of changes for our campus.”

The expansion, under consideration for a year, came after a survey conducted by the school found that three out of four of staff members polled supported the move.

White said Cedarville officials looked at policies adopted by schools in  Texas, Kansas, and Virginia, the Dayton Daily News reported.

Jim Irvine, board president of the Buckeye Firearms Association, a state gun rights group, said other colleges and universities in the state are having discussions over their own potential policy changes.

Cedarville, founded in 1887, has about 3,500 students.

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