US | Mon Oct 5, 2015 9:16am EDT

Weapons common on Oregon college campus despite 'gun-free zone'

ROSEBURG, ORE. | BY ERIC M. JOHNSON

When a gunman killed eight students and a teacher at an Oregon college last week, he also revived a debate on the need to change firearm laws and whether the school's "gun-free zone" policy only made easier for him.

President Barack Obama quickly pleaded for stricter gun laws to prevent similar tragedies, angering conservatives such as Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee. "It's clear that gun-free zones are sitting-duck zones," Huckabee said.

But about a dozen students and others connected to Umpqua Community College in Roseburg said many students carried guns despite the campus ban and that this was common knowledge.

"You are allowed to conceal and carry on that campus," said Umpqua student and part-time wildland firefighter Jeremy Smith, 24. "It's not a gun-free zone."

Smith said he would never return to campus without a handgun.

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