University Head Urges Students To Carry Guns

The president of a university in Virginia has urged his students to carry concealed weapons on campus to counter a possible armed attack, saying that "we could end those Muslims before they walked in".

President Jerry Falwell Jr. told students at Liberty University in Lynchburg: "Let's teach them a lesson if they ever show up here."

The comments were met with rousing applause from students, but some said Mr Falwell went too far when he appeared to be referring specifically to Muslims, the News & Advance newspaper reported.

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"I've always thought if more good people had concealed carry permits, then we could end those Muslims before they walked in," Mr Falwell said.

He told the Associated Press that he was specifically referring to Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik, the husband and wife who shot and killed 14 people in California on Wednesday.

In a separate interview, Mr Falwell, who said he has decided to carry a gun after recent attacks, told the newspaper: "There are many good Muslims, many good moderate Muslims."

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He told the AP he believed the campus needed to be prepared in the face of more and more mass killings.

Mr Falwell cited the 2007 shooting at Virginia Tech which left 32 people dead, the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history.

"What if just one of those students or one of those faculty members had a concealed permit and was carrying a weapon when the shooter walked into Virginia Tech?" he said.

"Countless lives could have been saved."