VALDOSTA – Monday, students at Valdosta State hustle to their first day of classes.
The fall semester not only bringing a new curriculum, but a new law allowing handguns on campus.
“People around here probably don’t have it, and if they see it, they’re going to be scared,” says Maurice Baker, a VSU sophomore.
While some students like the protection, others say it changes a lot, like the panic they now feel in the classroom.
“I do think it carries a lot of worry for people because you don’t know what’s in anybody’s backpack,” says Eboni Patterson, a VSU senior.
Many now wonder if it’s just books fellow students are bringing into their class.
By law, the gun must be concealed, but some hope it stays completely out of sight.
“Carry it in a bag or something,” says Baker. “Don’t let people know you have it. That’s how I feel.”
Even so, many students are still trying to come to terms with the new change.
“I don’t trust the person next to me to have a gun because I don’t know them or their thought process,” says Patterson.
VSU junior Jheniya Wortham adds, “I just hope that people will use them responsibly, but not everyone does everything responsibly, especially in college.”
An important day for those want to carry, and those who don’t.
Students studying more than just a new syllabus, but now new rules on campus.
