As a parent who’s sent a child off to live on a college campus, I can tell you there’s nothing that keeps you up at night quite like the thought of your kid being in danger and not being able to protect him or herself. And in New Jersey? That fear just got a whole lot more real.

For example, did you know that out of all 11 of our state-funded colleges and universities, only one, Rutgers, explicitly allows students to carry pepper spray? The rest either ban it outright or refuse to clarify their policies, making it nearly impossible for students to defend themselves, even with the most basic, non-lethal tools.

These are schools that take millions of our tax dollars, yet they won’t trust our kids to carry a legal canister of pepper spray?

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Research: College students left defenseless in NJ

John Petrolino is a U.S. Merchant Marine officer and author of Decoding Firearms: An Easy-to-Read Guide on General Gun Safety & Use. He is also a USCCA-certified instructor and NRA-certified pistol, rifle, and shotgun instructor who frequently writes for Second Amendment publications.

In a recent article on bearingarms.com, he talks about the extensive research he has done regarding the legality of defensive weapons on New Jersey campuses, and how defenseless our kids actually are living there.

Montclair State, for example, bans all weapons (including pepper spray!) even though it was being sold in their own bookstore. According to Petrolino’s article, when called out, they pulled it from the shelves and refused to talk further. The College of New Jersey claims pepper spray is illegal on campus, despite New Jersey law allowing adults to carry up to ¾ oz for self-defense.

Crime on campuses in NJ: The right to self-defense

Let me be clear, our students have a legal right to protect themselves, and these colleges are standing in the way. According to a recent crime report, six of these eleven schools are among the most dangerous in the state. Rutgers-New Brunswick alone reported 28 sexual assaults in a single year. And still, most of these campuses are essentially saying, “Good luck out there.”

As a parent, I’m not OK with that. These kids are living away from home for the first time. They shouldn’t have to choose between feeling safe and following some outdated, ambiguous policy. If your child goes to one of these schools, ask the administration why they’re denying students a basic self-defense option. You have a right to know. And your kid has a right to feel safe.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Judi Franco only.

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