IS THAT A GUN IN YOUR POCKET? - DILEMMAS OF STUDENT AND ACADEMIC SERVICES PROFESSIONALS IN A CAMPUS CARRY STATE

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by kopisore

Concealed campus carry is widely debated in public discourse and academic research, and this article examines how it affects the personal and professional lives of campus professionals. Drawing on self-determination theory, it reports findings from in-depth interviews with 32 women professionals in academic and student services at the University of Texas at Austin. Because these staff members implement and enforce gun policies through daily student interactions, their experiences aim to inform campus carry law, policy, and implementation at other universities.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages13

Reading Time33 min

AccessFree to download

Legal Background

Court decisions enabling campus carry

State legislation and regulations

Definitions: open vs. concealed carry

Geopolitical Location of Campuses

Campus vulnerability to gun violence

Method and Study Scope

Interview design and participants

Results, Discussion, and Implications

IS THAT A GUN IN YOUR POCKET? DILEMMAS OF STUDENT AND ACADEMIC SERVICES PROFESSIONALS IN A CAMPUS CARRY STATE Patricia Somers Jessica J. Fry Ashley Jones AJ Newton University of Texas at Austin Concealed campus carry is the subject of both popular discussion and academic scholarship. For almost a decade, the University of Texas at Austin (UT) has been the site of the debate over campus carry during a prolonged legislative battle and an implementation marked by pro-and anti-gun protests, various Texas attorney general’s opinions, and lawsuits. Using selfdetermination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000), this article presents the results from in-depth interviews with 32 women professionals in academic and student services at UT about how campus carry affects their personal and professional lives. Because of their daily interactions with students, these professionals have been at the forefront of implementing state and campus gun policies. Their experiences can inform the development of campus carry law, policy, and implementation at other universities. Please direct inquires about this manuscript to: Patricia Somers, [pasomers@mail.utexas.edu](pasomers@mail.utexas.edu) College Student Affairs Journal, Volume 38(1), pp. 78-90 ISSN 2381-2338 Copyright 2020 Southern Association for College Student Affairs All rights of reproduction in any form reserved. 79 College Student Affairs Journal Vol. 38, No. 1, 2020 C ampus carry, the open or concealed carry of handguns on campus by students, staff, faculty, and visitors, is the topic of much discussion and scholarship. As of December 2018, Google Scholar had 821,000 “hits” on the search term “campus carry” and the Chronicle of Higher Education posted 5,031, and Ebsco/Academic Search Complete reported 19 peer- reviewed articles. Of the articles cited, most were descriptions of the passage and implementation of state campus carry laws. The dearth of both peer-reviewed articles and articles about student and academic affairs professionals and campus carry demonstrates a gap in the academic literature. Since these professionals are at the front lines of implementing and enforcing campus carry policy, it is important to give voice to their experiences. Following the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary Schools, the National Rifle Association’s Wayne LaPierre asserted “The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun”(National Public Radio, 2014) . LaPierre’s words have been echoed by gun rights advocates and policymakers alike in support of guns on campus. On the other hand, the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) joined with three national higher education organizations in a statement condemning gunson campus (Hand, 2016) and the Modern Language Association (MLA) joined with 28 scholarly groups to oppose campus carry (Modern Language Association, 2016) . After several failed attempts, the Texas legislature passed a concealed campus carry bill in 2015. The bill became law (Texas S.B. 11, 2015) for the state’s four-year public universities on August 1, 2016, the 50th anniversary of the campus tower shooting at the University of Texas at Austin that left 14 dead and over 30 people wounded (Cagle, 2016) . The law took effect for community colleges one year later. We report here on interviews with 32 female professional staff members at the University of Texas at Austin (hereinafter University of Texas or UT) who work in academic or student services who were part of a larger study of campus carry. We focus on their opinions about campus carry and the implementation of the law. This article contains several sections: legal background, literature review, conceptual framework, epistemology/positionality, method, results, discussion, implications for practice, and a summary. Legal Background Two court decisions in the last 15 years have collectively enabled campus carry. In Heller v. District of Columbia (2006), the U.S. Supreme Court o

FAQs

What research approach does the article use to study campus carry impacts?

The article uses self-determination theory and reports results from in-depth interviews.

Who participated in the study?

The study includes 32 women professionals in academic and student services at the University of Texas at Austin.

Why are these professionals important to the study of campus carry?

They are on the front lines of implementing and enforcing campus carry policy through daily interactions with students, so their experiences can inform policy development elsewhere.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by kopisore