Student senate votes down support for legislation for guns on campus

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - Purdue Student Government voted down a resolution supporting legislation that would allow guns on campus. However, the vote was as close as it could possibly be.

Student attendance at Wednesday night's student senate meeting was the highest it has been all year.

Most of the students who spoke at the meeting were for guns on campus.

The student senate heard testimony from a student who was attacked on campus and claimed a pistol she had in her purse saved her life.

A bill that would allow anyone with a concealed carry license to carry their gun at any state university is being reviewed by state lawmakers in Indianapolis.
     
Purdue student senators were voting on a resolution to endorse it.
    
Discussion over the resolution lasted more than a half an hour. Eleven members voted against the resolution that supports the bill, then 11 members voted for it. This forced President Lexi Hiland to cast a vote.
    
After taking a few moments to think, she voted against it. She said the student senate voted on this same issue last year and it was denied. She said over the past year, it hasn't been brought up as something students are really pushing for.

"I haven't heard enough students advocating for this, specifically, that would urge me to say, 'Yes, this needs to happen.' It has been talked about in the last couple of weeks but just because students knew there was a bill coming up," Hiland explained.

The bill is currently being reviewed by state senators. If it's not given a hearing by the state senate by Friday, it will die.

Purdue policy prohibits anyone from carrying a gun or explosives on campus. If caught, a student can be expelled.