At the University of Cincinnati recently, students and staff got a first-hand view of what concealed carry on campus might look like.
58-year-old Jeff Smith said he acted to be an “interactive billboard” for gun rights and campus carry rights in Ohio.
Smith was just one of three people who chose to openly carry recently at the University of Cincinnati. He wore a three-piece suit and was armed with three handguns while he stood outside the student union for almost five hours on a recent day. He posed for photos and answered questions from students and university police officers who wondered what he was doing.
“The primary goal is to advocate for campus carry,” Smith told Cincinnati.com. “The second thing is starting a dialogue about gun rights and privileges.”
Two other people from the UC organization Young Americans for Liberty joined Smith in his public stand. The Young Americans for Liberty group petitioned the school’s student government to poll students about their opinions before a vote on a campus carry policy. A vote did occur, with no student poll, and two thirds of the student senate opposed a campus carry policy.
According to a student who attended a meeting about a campus carry resolution, the meeting was packed with many students on both sides of the debate speaking out.
