This week, from Monday to Friday, the 25,000 members of Students for Concealed Carry on Campus will carry empty holsters, in sign of protest against the law that forbids students to carry concealed guns on campus.

The demonstration will be peaceful, assured Nathan Robinson, a UT senior. Demonstrators are not supposed to carry signs and banners or disturb the peace in any way. They will only wear empty holsters, T-shirts and share fliers.

"It's a week-long protest," said Robinson. "It's not something where you pick a place and stand with picket signs."

The demonstration comes shortly after the first anniversary of the Virginia Tech shootings, in a period when nine states are reconsidering the legislation regarding gun carrying. According to CNN, Utah is currently the only state that allows students to carry guns at public universities, while Colorado also allows guns at public colleges except the University of Colorado-Boulder campus.

Robinson, who is in the process of obtaining a permit to carry a handgun, said the students do not intend to wear a gun so that they act as policemen on campus, or hurt somebody. The only reason for carrying a gun at school is self-defense, Robinson insists.

To obtain a concealed handgun permit, states require applicants to meet several conditions, including an age requirement, some written and shooting tests, state and federal fingerprint checks and the payment of a fee.

The issue is debatable as, while guns could make students carrying them feel safer on campus, authorities fear they also might encourage violence.

According to a Tennessee Bureau of Investigation "Crime on Campus" report released this year, the number of violent crimes decreased by 7 percent from 2004 to 2007 on the state’s campuses.