Virginia college to build on-campus gun range

The university's president, Jerry Falwell, announced the plans Tuesday after the county unanimously approved the proposal. The gun range will sit on a 500-acre plot of campus land and will include a pistol range, three rifle ranges, a police shoot house and skeet and trap shooting.

Falwell discussed the gun range Friday on Fox News' "Fox and Friends."

"We have a mountain on campus, and we thought we'd use it for recreation," Falwell said. "We've been able to avoid a lot of the sexual assault problems that you see at a lot of universities by giving students positive alternatives to keep them busy and to keep them entertained. The shooting range will be part of that."

The gun range won't only be for students at Liberty University but will also be open to members of the community and law enforcement.

The range will be the first National Rifle Association-supported gun range at an American university and the first NCAA-certified outdoor shooting range that can be used for all Olympic shooting sports, according to the university's proposal.

The university hopes to have the range open by Labor Day.