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Lawmakers face midnight deadline on college gun carry bill

ATLANTA — A bill up for consideration would allow guns on college campuses in Georgia.

Georgia Tech has emergency call stations set up around its midtown Atlanta campus, but some state lawmakers want to arm students with guns if they come across a threat.

Lawmakers are considering a bill that would allow licensed gun owners to bring weapons onto college campuses statewide.

The chancellor of Georgia's university system is campaigning against the legislation.

"Our law enforcement people are quite concerned when they go into situations. It would be impossible at the moment to determine who's the good guy and who's the bad guy," Chancellor Hank Huckaby said.

With robberies on or near college campuses, those who support the bill said students, faculty and staff members should have a way to protect themselves.

"I believe if you look at the crime rate around Georgia Tech and Georgia State, you can't say anything against (the bill)," Jerry Henry of GeorgiaCarry.org said.

Sporting events and dorms would still be gun free zones, but college students are still torn.

"I feel like people aren't going to be trained well enough to use a gun," one student said.

"It might give people an option to feel better about being on campus," GSU student Joshua Naterman said.

State lawmakers must pass the bill by midnight, or it will become a dead issue for the session.