Face the State

Face The State Staff Report

In the aftermath of a recent decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to lift a controversial prohibition on all guns in Washington, D.C., college activists are now requesting that the University of Colorado lift its own on-campus firearm ban. The first stop: Thursday's Board of Regents meeting where members of the Colorado Springs chapter of Students for Concealed Carry on Campus say they will submit a petition urging the board to reconsider the ban.

HyblFTS File Photo

Regent Kyle Hybl, R-Colorado Springs, said it is not likely the board will take up the issue. “It’s too polarizing,” he said. “Even if we were able to move forward and allow concealed carry we’d spend half the year not dealing with any other issues, while trying to address those who oppose it or feel we didn’t go far enough.”

CU has had a weapons ban since 1970; in 2003 it was strengthened after former Attorney General and now U.S. Senator Ken Salazar, a Democrat, issued a formal opinion that the CU ban eclipsed a state law passed that year that allowed for concealed carry of weapons in most parts of the state.

CU's policy is also tough when compared to Colorado State University, which does not have a written policy on carrying concealed handguns on campus, but defers to Colorado law, which states that individuals carrying concealed weapons must have a permit in accordance with state statute. CSU does not allow weapons of any kind in its residence halls, but individuals are allowed to carry concealed weapons on campus as long as they have a properly issued concealed weapons permit.

John Davis Jr., SCCC spokesman, was not surprised by Hybl’s response. “It sounds like they would love to avoid the issue completely, but we hope to put some pressure on them to change it,” he said.

If the Regents are unreceptive to the group's message, Davis said litigation and legislation are also an option. Dave Kopel, research director for the Golden-based Independence Institute and a nationally recognized 2nd Amendment expert, agrees that urging the regents to change board policy is a better alternative to court. “The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals has a long standing record of hostility towards the Second Amendment, as well as great deference to state and local government decision making,” he said.

Davis says the policy potentially violates the Colorado Constitution. He cited Article II section 13, which says, “The right of no person to keep and bear arms in defense of his home, person and property...shall be called into question; but nothing herein contained shall be construed to justify the practice of carrying concealed weapons.”

Criminal defense attorney Rob Corry agrees, saying the ban is of “dubious constitutionality” and disarms people who want to protect themselves. Corry thinks there is potential to bring a lawsuit, but says, “I’d prefer the school and Regents change this without taking the court’s time and resources.”

Deadly shootings at Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois University prompted anti-gun activists to push for even greater restrictions on firearms. “It’s an emotional policy not based on reason or logic,” Corry said, pointing to examples where guns have actually prevented further atrocities on campuses. In 2002, two students with personal firearms subdued Peter Odighizuwa, who had opened fire at the Appalachian School of Law in Grundy, Va.

Flux Neo, who graduated from CU-Boulder and now attends Appalachian as a law student, says he believes Appalachian is more secure. "It would have taken me about 30 seconds from any place in the building to get my hands on my .45," he said. "I think it’s a liability to not allow students who’ve gone through the steps and training to have a concealed gun."

The CU-Boulder police have a different take, with department spokesman Brad Wiesley saying, “We are perfectly fine with the status quo.” Senior attorney at the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, Brian Siebel, also believes CU should maintain its gun ban. He says the school's ranking as the number 13 party school in the nation is a prime reason guns should not be allowed. "To be high on that list you have to have high drug and alcohol abuse, and guns and alcohol do not mix," he said.

But Kopel says CU’s “blanket ban” of all firearms goes too far. "The pro-ban people come up with this negative image of college students as a bunch of drunks who are just going to shoot each other, but this is not just a ban for undergrads,” he said, pointing out that a nurse working at CU's Health Sciences Center and taking the bus home through a bad neighborhood is prohibited from arming herself for protection.

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in District of Columbia v. Heller that a D.C. ban on the possession of handguns violated the Second Amendment. The 5-4 decision was considered a historic victory by gun rights. The ruling is forcing other cities, including Chicago, to reconsider gun bans similar to those struck down in D.C.