Read the entire new report Concealed Carry Revocation Rates by Age from the Crime Prevention Research Center here. It is a common refrain that we can’t allow permitted concealed handguns on university property because we all know how irresponsible young people can be, getting drunk and having wild parties. So, how can we possibly trust college students to have a permitted concealed handgun?
Supporters of gun control also warn of the dangers of introducing guns into an atmosphere where more than half of students nationwide are reported to engage in risky behaviors such as binge drinking and drug use, which can impair judgment. Compounding the problem, they note, is that the part of the brain that controls judgment is not fully developed yet in young adults. – Annenberg Classroom citing documents from the Brady Campaign[1]
College students who own firearms are more likely than their unarmed counterparts to binge drink, to drive after binge drinking, to be arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol, and to damage property after drinking alcohol. – Daniel Webster and Jon Vernick, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, 2013.[2]
While most acknowledge that permit holders as a group are extremely law-abiding, even they worry that college age permit holders are irresponsible and would use guns improperly. Yet, we don’t need to guess about what might happen. There have been no reported problems with permit holders on any of the college campuses where permitted concealed handguns are allowed. That holds for the ten states that mandate that colleges allow permitted concealed handguns on campuses (Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Utah, and Wisconsin). Georgia should probably also be included as of July 1st, but it will take a court to make it official. As well as the 21 states that leave the decision on whether to allow people to carry on college campuses up to the individual school (the National Conference of State Legislatures lists 22 states, but we have included Pennsylvania in the mandated state list).
In addition, Michigan and Texas, which provide permit revocation data on the permit holder’s year of age, show college age permit holders are as responsible or even more responsible than older permit holders. Much of the gun control debate focuses on things that might possibly go wrong. Yes, some young people behave irresponsibly. But those who are willing to go through the permitting process are different from those who don’t. They are responsible.
The data for both Michigan and Texas show that college age students from 18 to 22 are at least as law-abiding as permit holders from ages 25 to 44. There is little reason to worry about young adults carry concealed handguns.
An UPDATED report from March 6th, 2015 includes information for Nevada.
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