Liberty University is building a $1mil range. It also allows student carry.

[Bang]

(From Guns America This Week/ by Jordan Michaels on December 21, 2016)

Liberty University has always been pro-Second Amendment, but next year they plan to up the ante—big time.

The school announced plans last week to build a $1 million, 13,000 square-foot gun range on their campus in Lynchburg, Va. The complex will feature indoor and outdoor areas for pistol, rifle, and shotgun practice and competition.

University president Jerry Falwell, Jr., touted the range as a logical extension of the school’s decision to allow students to carry handguns on campus. The range will give students a facility where they can earn their concealed handgun licenses and become more proficient with firearms.

Falwell told the Washington Post that the school’s pro-gun policies are meant to deter mass shooters like the one who killed 32 people at Virginia Tech in 2007. Gun-free zones attract terrorists, he said, and Liberty is set to become the least gun-free university in the country.

Students and Liberty families approve of the university’s stance on firearms, Falwell continued. Though he admitted he wasn’t sure how parents would respond, he’s received overwhelmingly positive feedback about the proposed range.

“I was a little timid about telling parents about it because I thought some would be worried,” Falwell said. “But I never got such enthusiastic applause. They don’t want to see anything happen here like at Virginia Tech, where nobody was able to fire back.”

While guns and college students might sound like a potentially dangerous combination, Brad Butler, Liberty’s planning coordinator, said the school is committed to creating a safe environment. Butler has been working with the NRA to develop best practices for safety as the school considers design and policy options.

Jason Brown, an NRA spokesman, told the Post that the organization frequently supports “institutions across the country by providing range guidelines and technical advice and grant-funding for citizens to participate in shooting sports.”

“We really do want to provide the best facilities possible in the most controlled environment possible,” Butler told WDBJ7 Tuesday.

Ultimately, Butler’s motivation for helping with the project is similar to Falwell’s. He said the range will allow students to prepare for a potential active shooter situation like the one that occurred a short 85 miles away at Virginia Tech.

“With president Falwell’s bold leadership, we’re going to avert something of that magnitude should evil like that ever come to this campus,” Butler said.

According to WDBJ7, Liberty needs a special use permit from Campbell County to build the shooting range, but planning commissioners have already recommended that the project move forward.

The Campbell County Board of Supervisors will have a final say on LU’s permit request after a public hearing, which is scheduled for Jan. 3.

[bogey1]

I think its AWESOME. But,,,, you know what will happen. First one to guess gets frees gun collection.
And moped.

[Bang]

No thanks. Not into paintball, and the cops are probably looking for that moped!

[mbinpa]

It actually pains me to think this is news.

I graduated Auburn University (in Alabama) in 1979. There was a Univeristy rifle/pistol team as well as teams from the ROTC and Navy ROTC. We practiced on campus at a nice range that also included an archery range. When I visited the college the summer before attending I told them I was going to shoot on the Navy team and owned my own firearms and asked about storage of my firearms. I assumed there would be something either at the Campus Security office or the Navy armory. Nope. Gun ownership was allowed in campus housing and on campus. We were allowed to keep our rifles, pistols and shotguns in the room. We were allowed CC and OC on campus. My resident advisor worked part time as a private security guard (not campus PD) and kept his Ruger revolver on his duty rig on a hook on the back of the door to his room.

We shot at universities throughout the south and every one had an on campus rifle/pistol range. It wasn't considered odd at all.

I turned 21 at Auburn. I went to the Lee County Sheriffs Office and with a New Jersey Drivers License, a dorm address and a $5 bill I got a LTCW within an hour of applying.

After graduating I moved to western PA. I took my Lee County (Alabama) CCW and walked into the Westmoreland County Sheriff's office. I forget how much it cost but I walked out with a PA LTCF within minutes.
I also joined a bullseye league that shot at the Latrobe HS rifle/pistol range.
This was the in the early 80s.

I moved to Chester County in the later 80s and there were plenty ranges near West Chester and plenty of bullseye leagues in the area with many of the teams being sponsered by companies like Merck and Lukins Steel.

Times sure have changed....

[esh21167]

I believe the majority of Liberty students are likely far more responsible than the average US college student.

[Bang]

Nah...I was wrong and deleted what I had written here....