FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 28, 2015

(Croton Falls, NY) The Campaign to Keep Guns Off Campus issued the following statement in connection with a series of disturbing campus incidents (including one death) that have occurred over the last 48 hours.

“Over the course of the last two days we have seen one student killed inside the Student Union at Savannah State University in Georgia, two people shot in a dormitory parking lot at Texas Southern University (TSU) in Houston and one student arrested for bringing a gun onto the campus of Northern Kentucky University.

We first want to offer our condolences to the family of Mr. Christopher Starks, a junior from the metro Atlanta area, and to the entire Savannah State University community during this most difficult time. While details are still emerging about this incident and the shooter is still at large, we do know that a young man’s life was taken too soon by another senseless act of gun violence. Mr. Starks now becomes part of the 33 other individuals who will lose their lives on a daily basis to gun homicide in America.

In another incident in Texas late Wednesday night, police say a suspect (a 20 year old student at Texas Southern University) has been accused of assault after two people were shot in a TSU dormitory parking lot.  Police immediately responded to the incident. Fortunately, one victim was treated and released, while the second victim remains in critical condition.

The third incident took place at Northern Kentucky University where a female student brought a gun into the school’s library.  Campus law enforcement was alerted and immediately responded to the scene and successfully resolved the situation.  It was later determined that the gun was inoperable.

Our colleges and universities should be havens for learning, where students, faculty, staff and visitors should not need to worry about the threat of gun violence on their campuses. Unfortunately, in the last few years, we are seeing an uptick in the number of on-campus shootings.   Rather than asking what we need to do in an unfortunate active shooting situation, we need to preemptively ask how these individuals are accessing guns.  Were they stolen? Bought illegally? Bought in a state that does not require background checks?  Rather than arming students, faculty, and staff with guns, we need to focus our energy on preventing these situations from happening.
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ABOUT THE CAMPAIGN TO KEEP GUNS OFF CAMPUS

The Campaign to Keep Guns off Campus was founded in 2008 to urge colleges and universities to band together to oppose the gun lobby’s agenda to push loaded, concealed guns onto college campuses. To date, the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) and more than 420 colleges and universities in 42 states have joined the Campaign. Follow us on Facebook or on Twitter at@KeepGunsoffCamp

Contact: Kathryn Grant, Southern Regional Director, [email protected]

Julie Gavran, Western Regional Director, [email protected]

Andy Pelosi, Executive Director (914-629-6726), [email protected]