Penn State spokesman Tysen Kendig said anything offering further protection for students is of interest to the university, but Kendig said he didn't think this bill would greatly affect Penn State.

"I don't think gun crime is necessarily a problem in State College, where we have one of the lowest crime rates of college towns in the country," Kendig said.

The law would not affect gun owners and other authorities with carrying permits, but those who are caught illegally with a firearm within the designated zone would receive harsher penalties than are designated under current law.

"It creates another layer. It's just another level of deterrence, really," said Gary Tuma, a spokesman for Fumo. "It gives law enforcement authorities another tool to give longer sentences or harsher sentences."

The recent shooting death of a 10-year-old Philadelphia boy prompted Fumo and Kitchen to develop legislation that would further protect children from gun violence while at school.

"The main objective here is to just give parents a peace of mind that when they send their child off to school that they're sending them to a safe place," Tuma said.

If passed, the law would not be designed to prevent students from participating in school-approved activities that involve firearms, Tuma said.

"There are provisions in there that exempt anyone using firearms in conjunction with a course or any other approved school activity," he said.

Institutions like schools or universities should have the right to restrict gun possession on campus grounds, but it is not necessary to add more laws restricting gun possession in surrounding areas, said Toby Eberhart, president of Penn State's Young Americans for Freedom.

"If you're on school grounds or university grounds with a deadly weapon and you're not authorized to be, then it just creates an unsafe environment for everybody," Eberhart said.

However, the penalties that already exist for a firearm violation outside of school grounds are sufficient in preventing criminal activity, he said.

"Whenever you get right down to it, you're really nitpicking a situation that I really don't think is terribly out of control as it is," Eberhart said. "I don't think you're going to catch any more people."

On-campus firearm violations differ from violations outside campus because the university is private property, said Bill Moerschbacher, Penn State University Police supervisor.

Nobody except law enforcement officers are permitted to carry firearms on campus, regardless if someone has a permit or not. Carrying a firearm illegally on campus violates both university and state law, he said.

Violations for carrying or using a firearm without a permit can carry either misdemeanor or felony penalties, depending on whether the person is lawfully eligible to have a permit or not, Moerschbacher said.

The bill would require the Pennsylvania Department of Education to post signs indicating the presence of a firearm-free zone, Tuma said.

To be enacted as law, the bill must pass in both the Senate and the House before being signed by Gov. Ed Rendell.

Some states have already enacted similar gun-free zone legislation, including Georgia, Wisconsin, Delaware, Iowa, Louisiana, Illinois, Texas, Ohio and California.