FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 11, 2025
(North Salem, NY): The Campaign to Keep Guns Off Campus (KGOC) issued the following statement in response to yesterday’s shooting at Utah Valley University:
“The Campaign categorically and universally condemns the violence exhibited for the nation to see at Utah Valley University yesterday. While details on the perpetrator, weapon and motive remain uncertain, what remains clear is the country is in a perpetual period of distress.
The pervasive warnings and infliction of harm related to firearms on campuses pose an existential threat to the foundation of schools, namely spaces designed and intended to nurture positive social development and the free flow of ideas within environments of tranquility. Utah Valley University joins over 20 other American colleges and universities that have gone into full lockdown at the start of this new academic year.
What was on exhibit yesterday was not only the horror of a high-profile murder but the ensuing mayhem of thousands of students frantically scrambling for safety, a university going into full evacuation followed by notification the campus will be closed for days, all of its classes and activities canceled. The chaos included the public apprehension of an individual later released as innocent as well as hundreds of children in five neighboring elementary schools subjected to the trauma of sheltering in place for hours with community-wide alerts of a shooter still at large.
This violence – threatened or executed – is an unacceptable violation to the spirit of campus life. It is also a byproduct of the runaway “guns-everywhere” culture propelling a wave of recent policies repealing gun-free zones and loosening campus-carry laws. All of this sends the chilling message that guns on campus are the remedy to our fears. Such signaling is dangerous and widens channels of rationalization, particularly among young and conflicted minds whose impulses to settle scores are all too often the ready reach for a gun.
This summer Utah colleges and universities announced they would follow new guidelines for firearms on campus in response to House Bill 128, passed in the most recent Utah legislative session. The bill solidified existing state law for college campuses while narrowing firearm restrictions, allowing anyone over 18 with a proper permit to carry on campus.
The Campaign calls for wisdom to not only be revisited but prevail. It is difficult in such trying times where bills like HB 128 pass. While concealed firearms can be carried on Utah campuses as long as the guidelines are followed, simulated weapons, such as toys, are prohibited. Firearms are permitted in the dorms, but props or weapons that do not work are prohibited and cannot be used as decoration in university housing. It is past time to weigh honestly where the real threats to campus life manifest.
Our nation’s students running for shelter was on full display yesterday. The Campaign’s mission and message – yesterday, today and surely tomorrow – remains a constant: Keep Guns Off Campus.”
Photo credit: “Utah Valley University sign on the main campus of Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, with Mount Timpanogos in the background, July 2018” by An_Errant_Knight Via Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International
Founded in 2008, The Campaign to Keep Guns Off Campus works with K-12 schools, colleges and universities across the country to oppose legislative policies that would force loaded, concealed guns to be carried on campuses. Through education, outreach, coalition-building, and legal action, The Campaign works to foster a safe learning environment for all and is the only national organization of its kind tasked with protecting higher educational institutions and the communities they serve. Follow us on Facebook, BlueSky, X and Instagram.
Contact: John McKenna, Executive Director, The Campaign to Keep Guns Off Campus ([email protected])
