Alleged Gunman Assaulted LSU Student — and Campus Carry Stays Illegal
Ronald White, 21, sits in jail on a first-degree rape charge after a freshman at Louisiana State University accused him of pulling a gun during an assault inside a dorm study room. Police arrested White over the weekend. Detectives submitted the arrest warrant on Monday, and it lists first-degree rape, resisting an officer, drug possession, and carrying a firearm on school property. Officers have not recovered the handgun. The alleged assault happened on a campus where Louisiana law leaves students and staff with no lawful way to carry a firearm, and that rule held even as a state lawmaker's campus carry bill died earlier this year.
Key Details
The warrant and reporting describe the following facts:
- Suspect: Ronald White, 21
- Victim: A freshman at LSU, identified only as a woman in the warrant
- Location: A dorm study room on the LSU campus in Baton Rouge
- Alleged conduct: White allegedly displayed a gun and forced the victim to perform oral sex
- Escape attempt: White allegedly told the victim to fetch a paper towel. She went to the lobby and asked someone to call campus police instead.
- Arrest: Officers ordered White to stop in the lobby. He allegedly ran out of the building and was found hiding under a car at a nearby intersection.
- Seized property: Seven grams of marijuana. No gun was found.
- Charges: First-degree rape, resisting an officer, drug possession, and carrying a firearm on school property
- Defense claim: After his arrest, White told investigators the victim touched him voluntarily and the sex was consensual, according to the warrant.
- Prior incident: The New York Post reported that White was arrested in October 2024 for allegedly threatening to kill an on-campus fast food worker. Prosecutors never filed charges after the worker stopped cooperating with police.
Because no firearm has surfaced, the state's case depends on the victim's account and the campus police response. The alleged gun charge is the only weapons count, and it rests on what the victim and witnesses told officers.
Background
Earlier this year, Rep. Danny McCormick pulled a bill that would have allowed lawful concealed carry on Louisiana's college and university campuses. McCormick withdrew it after several students who had signed up to testify in favor backed out. Commentary at Bearing Arms suggested that lawmakers' pushback also played a role, and the bill never moved this session.
Louisiana is already a permitless carry state for adults 18 and older off campus. Residents who want a concealed carry license still must be 21. That split means a 19-year-old can carry a handgun at a grocery store but not in the dorm down the hall. Texas passed a campus carry law in 2015 that took effect in 2016, and it has become the most-cited example of how a state can allow licensed adults to carry on campus with conditions. In 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen required states to justify gun restrictions by pointing to historical tradition. The majority also said sensitive places could keep some restrictions, a point lower courts have used to uphold school and university limits.
Why It Matters for Gun Owners
This case puts the "gun-free zone" label under a harsh light. Campus gun bans do not stop someone who has already decided to break the law. White allegedly carried a gun into a residence hall, a place where no metal detectors or armed guards stand at the door. Campus police only learn about a gun if someone sees it or reports it. Meanwhile, a student with a valid permit who carries for self-defense faces expulsion and criminal charges. The rule punishes the law-abiding and gives the predator an easy path.
If you attend or work at a Louisiana college, you cannot carry on campus under current law, even if you hold a valid permit. Students and staff in other states should check their own campus policies before carrying, because university rules often go beyond state statutes. If you travel to a campus in a state with a permissive policy, verify the local rules for the specific building, since private colleges can set their own limits in some states. Watch for campus carry bills in the next Louisiana session, and track which lawmakers vote for them.
DownRange Analysis
Under Bruen, the state has to show that a campus ban matches the historical tradition of firearm regulation. Courts have been generous to schools as sensitive places, so a campus carry challenge would face an uphill fight. The better path is legislative. Louisiana lawmakers who oppose campus carry must explain why a student with a permit is more dangerous than a man who allegedly walks into a dorm with a gun and a criminal record. Rep. McCormick should refile the bill next session and make that question the center of the debate. Gun owners in Louisiana should contact their state representatives now, ask where they stand, and record the answers. Any gun owner who attends a campus should also keep the state's off-campus carry rules in mind, because the law still treats campus grounds as a no-carry zone.
