Tulsa, OK-- A bill that would have allowed some people to carry guns on college campuses failed in the state senate earlier this year, but it could come back to the legislature sometime early next year.
Defeated House Bill 2513 would have allowed military veterans and others with firearms training to carry concealed weapons on campus.
Sara Kate Morgan attends Tulsa Technology Center full-time. She says she feels pretty safe making her way to and from class.
"You see the deputies and we're very monitored and from being a normal college student at a typical college campus, I feel like there's more monitoring here," said Morgan.
"We don't do a metal detection on our students," said Dr. Kara Gae Neal, President and CEO of TTC.
She says she's against any move to legalize bringing a gun onto campus.
"It's inexcusable in this day and age where we need real leadership from our political leaders, to have any politician advocate any guns on campus," said Dr. Neal.
Fox 23 obtained a statement from the lawmaker behind the push to remove the ban on firearms on college campuses:
"Over the past few years more than 60,000 Oklahomans have taken advantage of Oklahoma's concealed carry law to defend themselves," said State Representative Jason Murphey (R-Guthrie). "It is important that these responsible concealed carry licensees not be forced to give up their right to self defense simply because they have entered onto state owned property."
Neal says she doesn't agree.
"I think they put too many people at risk with their freedom for carrying a gun," she said. "This is not the wild west."
As for Morgan, she says her school's strong police presence, coupled with Oklahoma's conceal-carry law, offers her plenty of much-needed peace of mind.
"I do feel safer that we have the regulations that we have."
12 states are now considering bills that would allow people with concealed-weapons permits to carry guns at public universities.
Utah is the only state that currently allows it.
