Reporter: Jeremy Mills | Videographer: Jemon Haskins
Blacksburg, VA – The Virginia Tech campus is divided over an issue that hits so close to home. All day long there have been rallies at Virginia Tech for and against concealed carry on campus.
The rallies outside the student center started at 11 a.m. and ended about 4 p.m. Thursday. The two groups did come together and have some heated discussions, but several campus officers were there also and it never got out of hand.
About 100 members of the Virginia Citizens Defense League made up the bulk of the rally. The league is a pro-gun group that lobbies for fewer laws preventing concealed carry firearms. The VCDL was invited by the Virginia Tech chapter of the Libertarian Club.
Its president says they're upset that students and faculty cannot carry concealed weapons, and because it is a public university, they should be allowed to do so just like any other public place.
They're asking donors to hit the school where it counts, in their annual donations.
"A penny will be fine, they will have to cash that. It will cost them more to cash the check and you can write on there no guns, no funds if they want anything else," said Philip Van Cleave, president of VCDLP.
"We can absolutely win this. I mean with what you saw at Liberty University, I think part of that was them seeing the pressure from VCDL and all these other schools," said Eric Smith, president of the VT Libertarian Club.
The anti-gun group came armed with several victims and family members affected by the campus shooting of 2007.
They say the group of survivors met last month and claim every one of them is against guns at tech.
"They all feel as I do, that campuses are not any place for guns, guns are not necessary on college campuses," said Lori Haas, whose daughter was shot at VT.
"We wanted to come here to bear witness to see what they had to say, to offer a different opinion. Trying to deal with campus violence with more violence is not how we believe is the first step we need to take," said Colin Goddard, who was shot four times at VT.
Right now, students here at VT can be expelled if caught carrying a gun, even if they are legal permit holders.
But members of the general public can carry guns on campus as long as they have a concealed carry permit.
Group Against Guns on Campus
Rally on Thursday
