West Virginia advances campus gun bill despite student alarm

By LEAH WILLINGHAM
Associated Press

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia lawmakers have approved a bill that would allow people with concealed carry permits to bring firearms on state college and university campuses. The bill was greenlighted on Wednesday by the House Judiciary Committee despite overwhelming opposition from students who traveled to the Capitol to testify against it. The bill was passed by the Senate last month, and has been publicly opposed by the leadership of the state’s largest universities. Marshall University student E.T. Bowen told lawmakers that students will not forget “how casually you all have disregarded our safety and well-being in favor of profit and political gain.”