NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts’ (MCLA) trustee board voted 10 to one in favor of campus police carrying firearms, despite a mostly negative reaction from the student body.
The issue was first brought up in 2008 after a state-commissioned report found that campus police should be ready in the event of an emergency, such as a massacre like the one that occurred at Virginia Tech, YNN reports. Currently, five of nine Massachusetts State Universities have armed campus police officers.
Training and equipment will cost MCLA $24,000 this year. Police will be armed by this summer.
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