Everytown for Gun Safety released a new report a few days ago entitled Gun Violence on College and University Campuses. There are a couple of findings that really stand out, like the fact that Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU), which comprise about 2 percent of all higher ed institutions across the country, are the site of about 29 percent of on-campus shootings. But the report also has one glaring absence: a look at how many on-campus shootings took place in "gun-free zones."
The vast majority of public and private colleges and universities ban lawful carry, so in terms of raw numbers you'd expect that shootings are more common in those locations than on those campuses where concealed carry is allowed. But if gun control activists are right that more guns equates to more crime, then the campuses that allow for concealed carry should have shooting rates per institution far above their "gun-free" counterparts, and that doesn't appear to be the case at all.
According to Everytown, seven states had an on-campus shooting rate of zero per 1,000 schools; Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, South Dakota, Wyoming, Idaho, and Hawaii. At least three of those states (Wyoming, South Dakota, and Idaho) allow for campus carry. Six of the seven states are permitless carry, meaning anyone eligible to lawfully possess a gun can carry without the need for a permit, though not necessarily on campus grounds.
The state with the highest rate of on-campus shootings, meanwhile, is Nevada (32.7 incidents per 1,000 schools), where campus carry is strictly prohibited unless someone has explicit written permission from designated institutional authorities. Georgia has the highest rate of on-campus shootings of any campus carry state, at 23.2 per 1,000 schools, but the state's campus carry law is also one of the most restrictive in the nation. Campus carry is allowed, but not in dormitories, on campus apartments, and Greek life/fraternity and sorority houses. That means that those students who live on campus are essentially disarmed.
Everytown's number one recommendation for on-campus safety is (as you've probably already guessed) prohibiting guns on campus. The group's own data, though, show that a "gun-free" college or university can still have more shootings than one where lawful carry is allowed.
The other recommendations are also exactly what you'd expect. Reject "armed teachers." Raise the age to purchase a gun to 21. Enact and expand "red flag" laws. Adopt universal background checks. Enact and enforce gun storage mandates. Ban bump stocks, FRTs, and other "rapid-fire devices."
While a couple of those policies are aimed squarely at young Americans, most of them are just part of the standard blueprint for the gun control lobby that's designed to make legal gun ownership more expensive, more time-consuming, and more legally dangerous than choosing to live life disarmed.
According to Everytown, between August 2016 and July 2026, there were 389 shootings at 264 colleges and universities. While HBCUs only make up about 2 percent of post-secondary education institutions, almost 29 percent of on-campus shootings happened at HBCUs. The rate of shootings per 1,000 schools is 5.6 for non-HBCUs, but 112 per 1,000 schools for HBCUs.
5.6 isn't zero, but if that number is concerning, then the 112 incidents per 1,000 HBCUs is downright terrifying, and clearly should be the top priority in addressing on-campus shootings.
And yet, Everytown doesn't tell us how many of those 111 shootings occurred on campuses where lawful concealed carry was prohibited, and it doesn't compare the shooting rates at HBCUs that permit campus carry with those that don't. That's a pretty big omission, especially since one of the report's big takeaways is that campus carry laws are bad.
Everytown acknowledges that most of the shooters in its dataset weren't affiliated with the colleges where the incidents occurred. The report also found that shootings were far more likely to take place outdoors, in parking lots, or in residence halls than in academic buildings. Those findings suggest that campus shootings aren't necessarily a problem that can be addressed simply by regulating what students and faculty can legally carry. In fact, just 14 percent of shooters at HBCUs and 17 percent of shooters at non-HBCUs were current or former students.
None of this proves that allowing concealed carry reduces campus shootings. But Everytown hasn't demonstrated that prohibiting it makes campuses safer, either. If the organization wants to make that argument, it needs to provide the numbers that allow us to evaluate that claim. What we do know, though, is that more than one campus carry state have had absolutely no incidents of on-campus violence. I think that's significant.
With the enormous disparity between HBCUs and other institutions, I'd argue that examining the circumstances surrounding those shootings should be a priority. A one-size-fits-all list of gun control proposals isn't much of an answer to a problem that appears to be so unevenly distributed.
If the goal is genuinely to make college campuses safer, shouldn't we start by figuring out what's driving the violence, rather than assuming we already know the answer?
