Examining the Effects of Passing a Campus Carry Law: Comparing Campus Safety Before and After Georgia’s New Campus Carry Law

Authors

Jennifer McMahon-Howard, Kennesaw State University
Heidi L. Scherer, Kennesaw State University
James T. McCafferty, Kennesaw State University

Department

Sociology and Criminal Justice

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-2021

Abstract

Although there has been an increase in research on support for campus carry laws, few studies have examined how these laws influence campus safety. Using longitudinal data from a university sample, this study compares measures of campus safety before and after the adoption of a campus carry law. We found statistically significant increases in perceptions of campus as unsafe, fear of crime, lack of confidence in campus police, fearful conflicts, and carrying a gun on campus, but no change in violent victimization. Some changes differed for faculty/administrators, staff, and students. Also, in our exploratory multivariate analyses, we found that other factors could not explain much of the variation in changes in campus safety perceptions; these changes are likely due to allowing guns on campus.

Journal Title

Journal of School Violence

Journal ISSN

15388220

Volume

20

Issue

4

First Page

430

Last Page

444

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1080/15388220.2021.1930016