AAUP Calls for Sensible Gun-Control Measures

Following the February 14 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, the AAUP issued a statement in March reiterating its opposition to the presence of guns on college and university campuses and supporting sensible gun-control measures. The statement cites the AAUP’s November 2015 statement, issued jointly with the American Federation of Teachers, the Association of American Colleges and Universities, and the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges, opposing “campus carry” statutes that would compel colleges and universities to permit guns on campus. The AAUP argued in a November 2017 amicus brief, submitted jointly with the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence and the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, that the presence of guns on campus has a chilling effect on academic freedom.

The March statement calls on faculty members, students, college and university administrators, trustees, and political leaders to support a total ban on the sale of militarystyle assault weapons, high-capacity magazines, and bump stocks; comprehensive background checks for all who purchase firearms; a complete universal database of those banned from buying firearms; and an increase in the minimum age to purchase firearms to twenty-one. The statement also endorses student protests against gun violence.