The Libertarian Position on Guns at Virginia Tech

Some are criticizing the Virginia legislature for failing to pass a bill that would have “prohibit[ed] public universities from making ‘rules or regulations limiting or abridging the ability of a student who possesses a valid concealed handgun permit … from lawfully carrying a concealed handgun.'” Some gun rights advocates are saying that this bill was designed to protect second amendment rights. But what it would have done is told the universities what policy to adopt. Does libertarianism condone taking away a university’s right to choose its own weapons policy? It seems to me that the bill should not have passed; that whatever weapons policy the university wants is up to them. And can we say that a university (whether public or private) “ought” to allow guns on campus? There are many situations where a property owner might want to prohibit the possession of firearms. While I personally tend to agree with Ron Paul that permitting guns might be the best policy at a university, libertarians and gun-rights advocates need to be careful not become centralists on this issue. (Anarchists could also argue that public universities have no right to do anything at all, including prohibiting weapons possession (or even murder, I suppose), but that’s a different argument and not the one most conservatives and libertarians are making.)

Share

4:25 pm on April 17, 2007