Proposed legislation in Arizona would make it legal for people to carry concealed firearms on college campuses.

Arizona Republican State Sen. Karen Johnson, a sponsor of the bill, said the original version of the bill would have applied to teachers, administrators and parents.

“The reasoning, at this point, is that the most vulnerable, to me, are the children, because they just have no way of fighting back,” Johnson said. “At least if you’re an adult you can fight back. The children are simply sitting ducks.”

Johnson said she thinks the bill has enough votes to get out of the Senate.

“I think it should do pretty well over in the House too,” Johnson said.

She said she was a little upset that the bill had undergone some changes but was pleased that she was getting support.

Johnson said the first part of the bill, which would have included K-12 schools in the list of where people could go armed, was removed in the judiciary.

Johnson said she supported the legislation because it was not only a Second Amendment issue, but also one of timeliness and safety for students.

“It was funny, because we asked all of the heads of the law enforcement at the universities how quickly they could respond [to an incident],” Johnson said. “The soonest that anyone could get there was three minutes, and those of us who know the situations that have happened in the past know that it’s over by then. The students are shot; the killer kills himself; the damage is already done.”

She said there were a number of law enforcement officials who testified on behalf of the bill.

“They understand that the police cannot be everywhere and they have no problems with law-abiding citizens protecting themselves,” Johnson said.

Rick Dalton, a retired police officer, former president of the Arizona Crime Prevention Association and president of the American Citizen and Lawmen Association, said he believed that the law was a good idea.

“It’s pretty much really simple. People need to be able to defend themselves,” Dalton said. “And in my opinion, it’s more than a right, it’s a duty to defend yourself and your family, and for me as a teacher, it’s my duty to be able to defend my students.”

Dalton teaches at the Heritage Academy in Mesa, Ariz. He is the security and investigations consultant for the school.

He said there are already safeguards in place to ensure that mentally unbalanced people and people with previous criminal records can’t get a permit to carry a concealed weapon.

“This isn’t your Average Joe that’s carrying these,” Dalton said. “There’s a background check, mandatory classroom training and training on the range.”

Dalton said he felt the number of violent incidents on school campuses would be reduced if more people were armed.

He said a lot of critics of relaxed gun legislation say there will be rampant bloodshed.

“We’ll have shootings in the street, and at every traffic incident there’ll be blood and guts,” Dalton said. “There were all those predictions of carnage and it has not happened.”

According to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, there are 15 other states currently considering similar types of legislation.

Ames Police Cmdr. Jim Robinson said the question was not one of whether people should carry guns on campus, but a question of how this type of legislation would affect criminals.

“Ultimately, the question comes down to will the criminals still carry a firearm in prohibited areas? Does it affect those individuals who would break the law anyway,” Robinson said.

Robinson said the police force would enforce whatever legislation was enacted by the Iowa Legislature.