Story Published:
May 6, 2008 at 5:03 PM CDT
Story Updated:
May 7, 2008 at 3:35 PM CDT
SPRINGFIELD -- Campus security is the focus of a survey by Missouri State University research students. The Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Criminology looked into the community's opinions on carrying guns on campus.
The survey got responses from 313 members of MSU's community. About one third favored allowing faculty, staff and students to carry guns on campus. The vast majority favored allowing campus security officers to be armed.
Springfield police at the MSU substation are the only people allowed to carry firearms. The substation employs 10 officers, and four are usually on duty at once.
All 18 members of the campus security staff are not armed. Six of them usually are on duty at once.
Gary Snavely, director of campus safety, thinks that's enough. He doubts the study will encourage any policy changes.
Fifteen other states have pending legislation that would make it easier to carry guns on campuses, including Kentucky, Tennessee, and Oklahoma.
