Rowan Anderson

I am firmly against this bill, as a current college student and an aspiring academic professional. Since the beginning of the academic year in September of 2025, New England has already had one fatal shooting on college campuses, and the University of New Hampshire has had a shooting hoax, which caused many individuals to fear for their lives including students and staff. By passing this bill, college campuses across the state, a place where many students feel safe for perhaps the first time, will become a place of fear. Allowing firearms into any place of learning is unacceptable, moreso when these places are also the living quarters and communities of those that live there. There have already been multiple deaths that the state's public universities in the last five years, and allowing the unregulated possession of firearms will increase these substantially, from drunken accidents to purposeful attacks on other students. There is no circumstance that may occur on a college campus where the best reaction would include a firearm, especially one that is not operated by a trained police officer. Two years ago, a student held another student at knife point in her dorm. Imagine if it had been a firearm instead. Already, incidents are happening where violent force is being used against vulnerable individuals, and allowing firearms would not protect them, but rather arm their attackers with an easier avenue to cause harm. Both sides must be considered when making these decisions. While I firmly believe that non-lethal self-protective tools should be allowed on campuses, such as pepper spray or tasers, there is no reason to include firearms or other weapons in this bill. For this reason, I firmly oppose this bill, and am disgusted by the notion that an individual would believe this an okay course of action. I am deeply disappointed with the House that this bill has been able to make it to this point. Many individuals already live in fear of gun violence, and we do not need yet another place of learning to become a place of fear and terror instead.