A bill allowing concealed weapons on Idaho's college campuses passed the Senate 25-10 Tuesday, as Second Amendment advocates overcame opponents who criticized the measure as making learning environments unsafe.

Sponsor Sen. Curt McKenzie, R-Nampa, said barring guns from campus strips students and faculty of their constitutional freedoms guaranteed by America's Founding Fathers.

The bill now goes to the House, where a similar measure passed muster in 2011. That's likely to happen again, meaning Idaho would join Colorado, Kansas, Mississippi, Oregon, Wisconsin and Utah among states that currently allow guns on campus. Gov. Butch Otter has pledged to sign the bill.

"It's the Legislature saying you have a constitutional right and you don't lose that right when you step onto a publicly held universality," McKenzie said.

Mark Browning, vice president of community relations at North Idaho College, said they are disappointed that the legislation is continuing to move toward passage into law.

The administrations and trustees from NIC and the rest of the state's community colleges opposed the law in 2011 and again this time around.

Browning said he knows it was a difficult vote for some senators.

"But there will be some real difficulties for us moving forward should this make it through the House," he said.

Sen. John Goedde, R-Couer d'Alene, explained during the vote roll call that his vote wasn't an easy decision.

"I'm really conflicted with this," said Goedde, chairman of the Senate Education Committee. "I'm in favor of local control, but I also respect the Second Amendment. I would point out that the Supreme Court has already limited Second Amendment rights in some instances. I don't think what we've done here is inconsistent with that."

The college continues to experience a steady enrollment decline since the skyrocketing student head counts of the recent recession, and with that comes a significant reduction in tuition revenue.

"It's going to take some creative work on campus to comply. There will be some difficulties in providing the level of security that we'll need in order to comply with this legislation," Browning said.

The cost of one full-time, fully trained and certified police officer, a vehicle, equipment and training is estimated to cost $130,000, he sad.

"To get the kinds of coverage we'll need, we're going to have to have more than one officer," Browning said. "That doesn't cover us in Post Falls or Sandpoint or any of our other centers."

Reaction to the issue was mixed among students attending classes Tuesday on the North Idaho College campus in Coeur d'Alene. Jesse Bostrom, 19, and Dylan Allen, 20, each indicated they didn't think it was necessary to allow guns on college grounds.

"I don't really see a reason to have them on campus," Bostrom said. "We have security here already."

Dirk Mendive, 30, said he is in favor of allowing campus gun-carrying.

"It's one of our constitutional rights and it's a natural right to be able to defend ourselves," he said.

Mendive added that, in his opinion, it seems as though people intending to use a gun to do harm often target "gun-free" zones. Mendive said that in that case - without allowing enhanced concealed weapons permit-holders to carry on campus - there wouldn't be much students could do to defend themselves.

"Gun ownership and the use of guns is our right, and this honestly doesn't bother me because you do have to go through training," said Frances O'Keefe, 25. "I don't think a gun, especially in the hands of someone trained, would be that much more of a danger for campus."

When the 2011 House-passed bill failed in the Senate, foes said among their concerns were a lack of training and possible access by students who had been drinking.

McKenzie said he has addressed the concerns.

Under the current measure, only retired law enforcement and those with Idaho's enhanced concealed carry permit - which requires an eight-hour training class and firing 98 rounds every five years - would be allowed to have a gun.

The bill also bans firearms in dormitories and stadiums and carries harsher penalties for those who tote a gun while intoxicated or on drugs.

Three Republican senators - Shawn Keough of Sandpoint, Dan Johnson of Lewiston and John Goedde of Coeur d'Alene - joined all seven minority Democrats in opposing the bill.

Sen. Marv Hagedorn, R-Nampa, also backed the bill, arguing it gives those on campus a way to protect themselves and acts as a deterrent to criminals."

Bad guys don't know who's armed, who's not armed, who to attack, who not to attack," he said. "But they know on campus, that's a gun-free zone."

Sen. Sheryl Nuxoll, R-Cottonwood, debated and voted in favor of SB1254. She shared a personal experience about being at Gonzaga University when people in the cafeteria were warned about, "a gunman across the street," at a church.

"From what I remember, the gunman was on drugs," Nuxoll said.

The event resulted in the death of a church caretaker and shooting injuries to two students, Nuxoll said.

"And at that time I sure wished that there had been someone there trained with a gun - one of the students, or one of the teachers - to help prevent that event that I still remember," Nuxoll said. "And, here, you know how sad it is to know that those students were shot, the caretaker was killed. And, it just seems to me that those who shouldn't have guns have them, and the ones that should have guns are not permitted to have them on campus."

But Sen. Elliot Werk, a Boise Democrat who has been outspoken in his opposition for the bill, dismissed the idea that criminals were stalking college campuses for their next victim.

"If it were true that these gun-free zones made colleges less safe, then we would see higher crime rates on college campuses and the surrounding communities," he said.

In fact, the opposite is true.

Werk says that may not be for long if students who have guns let anger - or alcohol - cloud their judgment.

Sen. Jim Rice, R-Caldwell, said coddling people on campus wasn't his job. It was his job, he said, to preserve freedoms.

"We sometimes think our duty is to make everyone safe," Rice said. "It's to preserve liberty. It's not to make a society that's absolutely safe."

Heads of all eight of Idaho's public universities and colleges have spoken out against the bill, as has Boise Police Chief Mike Masterson.

That convinced Sen. Roy Lacey, D-Pocatello, who said the bill was only gaining steam because his colleagues didn't want to look weak on Second Amendment issues going into the May 20 primary election.

"Our university leadership says no, our local police department says no, our sheriff's department says no," he said. "We need to listen to those who are involved."