"Guns on Campus: The Impact of Campus Carry on Student Behavior and Emotions" (by Inara Ramazanova, Terressa Benz, and Joseph DeAngelis): Review 2

For the paper, vote on whether to (1) publish as is, (2) publish pending minor changes, (3) publish pending major changes, or (4) do not publish.

Vote: Publish pending (very minor) minor revisions. I made minor suggestions below that may or may not be helpful). These revisions do not need to be made in order to be published. This is well-written, but given that I was asked to review, I provided some considerations that might be helpful. Nice work.

Though commentary pieces on concealed campuses are not uncommon, actual studies with data are rare. Therefore, I am happy to see this piece and thankful for the opportunity to review it. Great to see qualitative methods, which are appropriate given that this area of research is under-researched. Well written and interesting. Some notes to consider:

1)      You wrote: ‘Several students stated that they grew up with guns because their fathers are hunters or that they have previously shot with them.” It would be interesting to juxtapose gun experience/training and comfort with the fact that a Texas Police Chief was vocally against concealed campus carry (local news story: https://www.kxan.com/news/chief-acevedo-stands-by-statements-on-campus-carry-bill/). This arguably counters the participants’ logic that they're safer because they have experience with guns. A police chief arguably has more training on guns than any civilian.

2)      Your first paragraph under Implications is just an idea for future research. I don’t see how it’s an implication.

3)      One thing that may help you contextualize your findings in your Discussion is comparing your student sample findings to studies of college faculty. How are your findings similar? Distinct?

4)      We recently wrote a handbook chapter, and I am unsure whether this argument/reasoning would be helpful in explaining your findings. We wrote:

“Exposure to guns and COVID-19 in the classroom present risk. Murphy (2001) studied flight attendants, who fly as part of their job, and drew on Becker’s (1973) denial of death. In line with Murphy, we argue here that professors deny or suppress the risk of COVID-19 and gun violence when they teach face-to-face. Thus, we propose that some professors likely experience a dialectical tension of comfort (e.g., ease of in-person instruction) vs. fear (e.g., distress over exposure to COVID-19 or gun violence).” (p. 154). Citation:

Chory, R. M., & Horan, S. M. (2022). Looking back and looking ahead at negotiating power in the classroom. In M. L. Houser & A. M.  Hosek (Eds.), Handbook of Instructional Communication: Rhetorical and Relational Perspectives (pp. 151-170). Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt.

**I am unsure if the above argument could be helpful in discussing how some students might feel. That said, if it’s not, don’t include it. This is not a condition of my recommending publication but, instead, just something that might be interesting.