On Wednesday, March 26, Chris Cox, executive director of the National Rifle Association’s Institute for Legislative Action gave a speech in the St. Louis Room in the Busch Student Center. The ILA is the main lobbying branch of the NRA, the nation’s largest pro-gun lobby group. The event was co-sponsored by the SLU Gun Awareness & Marksmanship Education Club, the College Republicans and off-campus sponsors such as the NRA, Kirkwood Outfitters, Mid-America Arms and private supporters.

Cox spoke briefly about gun issues in Congress and judicial issues, most notably the Washington, D.C., handgun ban that is going in front of the Supreme Court. He also gave a tacit endorsement of Sen. John McCain in the upcoming presidential election, stating that both Sens. Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton have favored 2nd amendment rights now that it has become “politically advantageous.”

In a Q&A session afterwards, Cox commented on the controversial issue of guns on college campuses. While stopping short of giving an outright endorsement for guns on campus, he did say that the current system in place does not work, and that arbitrary boundaries, such as “safe zones” on campus, are “unrealistic.”

Many states have already considered or passed legislation to allow guns on public college campuses. Utah, for example, allows students and professors to carry concealed weapons on campus. Legislation allowing guns on public campuses has also passed in Colorado and in the Oklahoma House of Representatives. Similar legislation has been promoted in at least 14 other states.

Such legislation has not been promoted in Missouri; it is illegal in the state of Missouri to carry a firearm on a college campus. In addition, Saint Louis University is a private university, and would be allowed to make its own rules regarding firearm possession on campus as long as it does not violate state law.

“Our group supports the right of private universities to make their own rules regarding guns on campus,” says Tom Applewhite, president of SLU GAME Club, one of the event’s sponsors.

Michael Lauer, director of DPS, states that “the department of Public Safety takes no stance” on Cox’s comments. All DPS officers in the 104 staff positions are armed.