Should community college campuses have armed officers?

Oregon — Lawmakers in Wisconsin introduced a bill this week that would broaden gun rights on public universities, but Oregon lawmakers aren’t in any rush to change current legislation here.

We spoke with students at Rogue Community College about their feelings on armed campus security. While some say it’s a conversation that should take place in the wake of the Umpqua Community College shooting, others say a classroom is just not the place for a gun.

“I come here for an education,” RCC student Curtis Ziegler says, “I don’t come here looking to catch someone doing something wrong. I feel like Medford Police Department do a great enough job you know of protecting the citizens of this town and they’re not far away.”

Student Nick Merrill says, “If there’s an honorable man who’s carrying a weapon, he might be able to stop something like a school shooting very quickly if he acted right.”

Currently, community colleges are not allowed to form police departments with armed officers, and many campuses, like UCC, ban students and staff from carrying weapons.

Oregon lawmakers have suggested meeting with community college staff to discuss if their campuses should be given the same authority as 4-year universities. Others have suggested a budget increase to boost current security staffing.