University Is Uneasy as Court Ruling Allows Guns on Campus (CO)
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Bruce Jackson
Sep 28, 2012, 9:47:07 AM9/28/12
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http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/23/education/guns-on-campus-at-university-of-colorado-causes-unease.html?pagewanted=all&_moc.semityn.www
http://tinyurl.com/99nzbo7
University Is Uneasy as Court Ruling Allows Guns on Campus
By DAN FROSCH
Published: September 22, 2012
BOULDER, Colo. — During her 19 years teaching English at the
University of Colorado Boulder, Karen Jacobs never gave much thought
to whether one of her students was carrying a gun.
As the state’s flagship university, it had a longstanding firearms
ban. So even in a place like Colorado, where gun rights are nearly as
deeply cherished as John Elway and fresh snow, there was never a need
for concern.
But ever since a State Supreme Court ruling in March forced the
university to allow those with Colorado concealed weapon permits to
carry their guns on campus, Ms. Jacobs and other faculty members have
found themselves increasingly uneasy.
“This is a place where we depend on being able to speak our minds and
offer sometimes controversial opinions in a free and open place,” she
said. “The feeling among a percentage of faculty is that this will
create a climate of fear and intimidation.”
Over the last two months, with the school year in full swing, anxiety
over the university’s new gun policy has risen — driven in part by the
mass shooting at an Aurora movie theater on July 20 by a troubled
University of Colorado Denver graduate student and by the deep scars
that still cut through the state from the killings at Columbine High
School 13 years ago.
Some teachers have spoken out publicly against extending the concealed
gun policy to campus, fearful that an unstable student — who now,
ostensibly, could be legally armed in their classrooms — might hurt
them or a fellow student.
Last month, the chairman of the Faculty Assembly at the campus in
Boulder, Jerry Peterson, told The Boulder Daily Camera that he would
cancel class if he discovered one of his students was carrying a gun.
And on Friday, faculty members gathered to discuss how to overturn the
policy through legislative channels.
Gun rights proponents, conversely, have argued that lawful gun owners
should not be precluded from protecting themselves on college
campuses, and they contend that gun bans make those campuses less
safe.
Besides, they say, anyone disturbed enough to open fire is not going
to heed university policy.
“This gives us the right to protect ourselves, where currently, many
colleges suspend that right,” said David Burnett, a spokesman for
Students for Concealed Carry, a national group that advocates for the
right to carry legally permitted guns on public college and university
campuses.
According to the group, more than 200 colleges and universities in the
country allow individuals to carry concealed firearms.
“Very often people come back and say allowing students to carry guns
is a crazy, paranoid idea,” Mr. Burnett said. “But we’re not just
talking about letting students carry guns. It’s only those people who
already have the permits.”
Ever since a shooting at Virginia Tech University left 33 people dead
in 2007, the issue of whether guns should be allowed on campuses has
been hotly debated in statehouses around the country.
Some 21 states have an outright ban on concealed weapons on campuses,
according to data compiled last month by the National Conference of
State Legislatures. Two dozen states leave it up to individual
universities and colleges to decide.
Five states — Oregon, Mississippi, Wisconsin, Utah and Colorado — now
have provisions permitting the carrying of concealed weapons on
campuses, the group said.
The controversy here dates to 2008, when a conservative legal
foundation brought suit against the University of Colorado on behalf
of two students and an alumnus from the school’s Colorado Springs and
Denver branches.
The suit was initially dismissed, but the state appeals court
overturned the dismissal. After the university appealed, Colorado’s
Supreme Court held that the school’s gun ban, in place for more than
40 years, violated a 2003 state law allowing concealed firearms.
John Davis, one of the plaintiffs in the case, and then a graduate
student at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, said he had
wanted to carry his Ruger p90 pistol on campus for protection, as he
often found himself leaving school alone at night.
“I felt that the right to defend me and my family shouldn’t be taken
away because some people are afraid of firearms and nervous around
them,” said Mr. Davis, an Army veteran.
In the wake of the ruling, university officials have sought to soothe
faculty fears, recently creating a policy that requires students who
want to bring their firearms on campus to live in separate graduate
student apartments and cottages.
Colorado law requires anyone with a concealed carry permit to be at
least 21 years old. But the prospect of inserting a number of armed
students, however small, into traditional college dorm life was a
concern nonetheless, said Bronson Hilliard, a university spokesman. Of
the school’s nearly 30,000 students, no one has requested the special
housing yet, Mr. Hilliard said, and it is unclear how many students,
if any, currently carry concealed guns. The university has continued
to ban guns at ticketed athletic and cultural events.
But that has not quieted the nervousness among faculty members. This
month, the University of Colorado Boulder provost, Russell Moore,
convened a widely attended town hall meeting to address the issue.
“What was explained to the faculty was first of all, we understand
what you’re saying, your fears, your concerns and your doubts,” Mr.
Hilliard said. “But just being concerned about the situation doesn’t
allow any faculty member to simply cancel class or refuse to teach
someone because of the mere concern that somebody is exercising their
concealed carry rights in the classroom.”
At the campus meeting on Friday, State Representative Claire Levy, a
Democrat from Boulder, said she planned to introduce a bill during the
coming legislative session that would let the university’s Board of
Regents decide whether guns should be allowed.
About 30 faculty members peppered Ms. Levy with questions, some
raising their personal concerns about the new policy.
“The classroom is a place where judgment is levied upon individuals,
not unlike a court of law,” said Noah Molotch, an assistant professor
of geography. “You interject a firearm and there’s potential for a
confrontation.”
A version of this article appeared in print on September 23, 2012, on
page A22 of the New York edition with the headline: University of
Colorado Is Uneasy as Court Ruling Allows Guns on Campus.
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http://tinyurl.com/99nzbo7
University Is Uneasy as Court Ruling Allows Guns on Campus
By DAN FROSCH
Published: September 22, 2012
BOULDER, Colo. — During her 19 years teaching English at the
University of Colorado Boulder, Karen Jacobs never gave much thought
to whether one of her students was carrying a gun.
As the state’s flagship university, it had a longstanding firearms
ban. So even in a place like Colorado, where gun rights are nearly as
deeply cherished as John Elway and fresh snow, there was never a need
for concern.
But ever since a State Supreme Court ruling in March forced the
university to allow those with Colorado concealed weapon permits to
carry their guns on campus, Ms. Jacobs and other faculty members have
found themselves increasingly uneasy.
“This is a place where we depend on being able to speak our minds and
offer sometimes controversial opinions in a free and open place,” she
said. “The feeling among a percentage of faculty is that this will
create a climate of fear and intimidation.”
Over the last two months, with the school year in full swing, anxiety
over the university’s new gun policy has risen — driven in part by the
mass shooting at an Aurora movie theater on July 20 by a troubled
University of Colorado Denver graduate student and by the deep scars
that still cut through the state from the killings at Columbine High
School 13 years ago.
Some teachers have spoken out publicly against extending the concealed
gun policy to campus, fearful that an unstable student — who now,
ostensibly, could be legally armed in their classrooms — might hurt
them or a fellow student.
Last month, the chairman of the Faculty Assembly at the campus in
Boulder, Jerry Peterson, told The Boulder Daily Camera that he would
cancel class if he discovered one of his students was carrying a gun.
And on Friday, faculty members gathered to discuss how to overturn the
policy through legislative channels.
Gun rights proponents, conversely, have argued that lawful gun owners
should not be precluded from protecting themselves on college
campuses, and they contend that gun bans make those campuses less
safe.
Besides, they say, anyone disturbed enough to open fire is not going
to heed university policy.
“This gives us the right to protect ourselves, where currently, many
colleges suspend that right,” said David Burnett, a spokesman for
Students for Concealed Carry, a national group that advocates for the
right to carry legally permitted guns on public college and university
campuses.
According to the group, more than 200 colleges and universities in the
country allow individuals to carry concealed firearms.
“Very often people come back and say allowing students to carry guns
is a crazy, paranoid idea,” Mr. Burnett said. “But we’re not just
talking about letting students carry guns. It’s only those people who
already have the permits.”
Ever since a shooting at Virginia Tech University left 33 people dead
in 2007, the issue of whether guns should be allowed on campuses has
been hotly debated in statehouses around the country.
Some 21 states have an outright ban on concealed weapons on campuses,
according to data compiled last month by the National Conference of
State Legislatures. Two dozen states leave it up to individual
universities and colleges to decide.
Five states — Oregon, Mississippi, Wisconsin, Utah and Colorado — now
have provisions permitting the carrying of concealed weapons on
campuses, the group said.
The controversy here dates to 2008, when a conservative legal
foundation brought suit against the University of Colorado on behalf
of two students and an alumnus from the school’s Colorado Springs and
Denver branches.
The suit was initially dismissed, but the state appeals court
overturned the dismissal. After the university appealed, Colorado’s
Supreme Court held that the school’s gun ban, in place for more than
40 years, violated a 2003 state law allowing concealed firearms.
John Davis, one of the plaintiffs in the case, and then a graduate
student at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, said he had
wanted to carry his Ruger p90 pistol on campus for protection, as he
often found himself leaving school alone at night.
“I felt that the right to defend me and my family shouldn’t be taken
away because some people are afraid of firearms and nervous around
them,” said Mr. Davis, an Army veteran.
In the wake of the ruling, university officials have sought to soothe
faculty fears, recently creating a policy that requires students who
want to bring their firearms on campus to live in separate graduate
student apartments and cottages.
Colorado law requires anyone with a concealed carry permit to be at
least 21 years old. But the prospect of inserting a number of armed
students, however small, into traditional college dorm life was a
concern nonetheless, said Bronson Hilliard, a university spokesman. Of
the school’s nearly 30,000 students, no one has requested the special
housing yet, Mr. Hilliard said, and it is unclear how many students,
if any, currently carry concealed guns. The university has continued
to ban guns at ticketed athletic and cultural events.
But that has not quieted the nervousness among faculty members. This
month, the University of Colorado Boulder provost, Russell Moore,
convened a widely attended town hall meeting to address the issue.
“What was explained to the faculty was first of all, we understand
what you’re saying, your fears, your concerns and your doubts,” Mr.
Hilliard said. “But just being concerned about the situation doesn’t
allow any faculty member to simply cancel class or refuse to teach
someone because of the mere concern that somebody is exercising their
concealed carry rights in the classroom.”
At the campus meeting on Friday, State Representative Claire Levy, a
Democrat from Boulder, said she planned to introduce a bill during the
coming legislative session that would let the university’s Board of
Regents decide whether guns should be allowed.
About 30 faculty members peppered Ms. Levy with questions, some
raising their personal concerns about the new policy.
“The classroom is a place where judgment is levied upon individuals,
not unlike a court of law,” said Noah Molotch, an assistant professor
of geography. “You interject a firearm and there’s potential for a
confrontation.”
A version of this article appeared in print on September 23, 2012, on
page A22 of the New York edition with the headline: University of
Colorado Is Uneasy as Court Ruling Allows Guns on Campus.
--
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