Guns on campus.

Liu, Michelle Camacho

Horrific shootings on college campuses in the last several years prompted heated discussions in state legislatures about whether to permit more guns on college campuses. For some, these events point to the need to ease existing firearm regulations and allow more concealed weapons on campuses. Others see the solution in tightening restrictions to keep guns off campuses.

Twenty-two states ban carrying a concealed weapon on a college campus, while only one state (Utah) currently explicitly allows it. Twenty-five states let each college or university make the decision. In 2011, two state legislatures considered, but did not pass, bills to prohibit concealed weapons on campus.

Lawmakers in 18 states introduced legislation last year to allow concealed-carry weapons on campus. Bills in Mississippi and Wisconsin passed, and an appeals court decision in Oregon greatly reduces the regulation of guns on campuses.

Mississippi now allows those who have taken a firearm safety course from a certified instructor to carry a gun on campus. Because the law is being disputed, colleges currently are upholding their bans until the legal issues are resolved.

In Wisconsin, lawmakers voted to allow guns on campuses, but with a provision that allows colleges to prohibit weapons in campus buildings if signs are posted at every entrance of every building.

An Oregon court of appeals ruling overturned the long-standing university system ban of guns on campus, stating that only the legislature can regulate the use, sale and possession of firearms.

Proponents argue the Second Amendment gives Americans the right to carry guns on campuses and that doing so improves student safety by increasing the chance that someone with a gun would be able to respond to certain emergencies more quickly than campus security.

Opponents argue, however, that additional guns would not deter rare, large-scale campus shootings, could stifle academic debate for fear of retaliation and could cause more accidental shootings.

The debates are sure to continue in legislative sessions. In January, lawmakers in at least five states had introduced new bills to allow guns on campuses in some regard, and four other legislatures will continue to debate bills introduced last year.