Editor’s note: The following column was submitted by Chris Sorensen and Elizabeth Dodd on behalf of themselves and 38 other distinguished professors at Kansas State University.

In July of 2017, Kansas Board of Regents institutions will lose their exemption from Kansas legislation that permits the carrying of concealed firearms in all public places. Until that time, colleges and universities have had the authority to restrict firearms if they believe them incompatible with the function and mission of their campuses. Our university has done so, a policy which we strongly support.

Our administration and campus community have made that choice for a wide variety of reasons.

Suicide is a threat to people of traditional college age; death by gunshot is the most prevalent suicide mortality. We believe that easier access to guns will mean losing more of our students to suicide.

Accidental shootings injure both gun owners and those around them. University classrooms, labs, libraries, athletic venues and other public spaces bring people in close proximity to one another. Accidental shootings cannot occur in the absence of guns, and we believe more guns will increase the likelihood of accidental shootings of our coworkers, our students and the guests who come to our campuses.

There is no evidence that increased gun presence has decreased death or injury by guns on campuses. Whether on campuses or elsewhere, private citizens have had no appreciable success in preventing deaths by intentional shooters, accidental shooters, or suicidal individuals. Beyond the boundaries of universities, the evidence is that the presence of guns in homes increases the likelihood of death or injury by gunshot. We believe our community is safest without guns in our midst, except in the hands of on-duty law enforcement officials.

We think that officially allowing firearms on campus for students, faculty and staff will make it more difficult to recruit those who are uncomfortable with guns in their learning or working environment, and we worry that we will lose valuable members of our campus community to other universities.

We are dedicated teachers, mentors, researchers and colleagues. We believe that the unrestricted presence of guns in our classrooms, offices, lecture halls and other spaces will make us and our students feel less safe. It will compromise the open door policy many of us maintain, in which students and others are free to drop by our offices to consult or converse. It will make students less open to working together with others whom they may not know well, and will adversely affect their educational experience. We believe that by compromising the safety of our community members, sanctioning guns on campus goes against the mission of the university.

We, the Kansas State University Distinguished Professors, strongly urge the Legislature to allow colleges and universities to regulate the presence of guns on their campuses, granting them permanent relief from the Kansas Personal and Family Protection Act. And we ask our students, their families, and our colleagues and coworkers to join us in this call.