Guns On Campus

Gun Control and the Second Amendment is obviously a hot debate topic and there is no doubt that the balance between gun control, public safety while avoiding the violation of a person's rights is a tricky road to walk...

College campuses. A gray area?

US Dept. of Higher Education Center: guns on campus, debate .pdf

The above .pdf is from 2009, it says that almost all US universities have gun-ban policies and despite many states initiating proposals to re-open debate (following the Virginia Tech. incident) very few states have been successful swaying university system policy. Colorado, Texas, Florida (and now Oregon) appear to be succeeding.

Colorado Court of Appeals: CU gun ban violates state laws

CU debate:

Oregon now joins the growing list of states that are challenging university systems who implement rules that step outside of state law.

Two years ago, the OR Firearms Federation initiated a lawsuit against the Oregon State University System spurred in part, due to the arrest of a student (a US Marine) for carrying a concealed weapon on campus. The charges were dropped, but the student was suspended for being in violation of campus policy.

When asked why he carried the weapons on campus, Maxwell said he was concerned about his and other students' safety after the April 2007 massacre at Virginia Tech.

"When Marines hear gunfire, we don't run from it. We run toward it," Maxwell told KATU. "I kind of thought of myself as one of the good guys – the one who, if something happened at school, was going to step in and save everybody else."

College oust Marine for legally concealed gun


Legislators (Hanna and Thatcher) then joined the debate declaring that universities are violating state law. Excerpt from their letter to the Chancellor:

"We are concerned about the rights of legal gun owners throughout our state and hope the university system will seek to remove any administrative rules or other policies which infringe on those rights."

Debate arises over legality of guns on campus


Fast forward ...

Last week, the Oregon Court of Appeals has overruled the Oregon State University System administrative law banning weapons on campus. The ruling states:

“[The college's policy] is an exercise of an “authority to regulate” firearms that is not expressly authorized by the Legislative Assembly, and that it is preempted by ORS 166.170. Accordingly, the rule exceeds the agency’s authority, ORS 183.400 and is invalid.”

Oregon Revised Statute ORS 166-170 states that “the authority to regulate in any matter whatsoever the sale, acquisition, transfer, ownership, possession, storage, transportation or use of firearms or any element relating to firearms and components thereof, including ammunition, is vested solely in the Legislative Assembly.”

*It should be noted that the ruling did not reference the Second Amendment*

In a statement of response, OUS stated they were “disappointed” with the ruling and would consider their options.

OUS vs FEF ruling .pdf

Perhaps this is a trend (good or bad is for you to decide) or, perhaps these few states are walking a lonely road...

I agree with Archie over Dear Leader. Arm everybody on the plane. Use frangible ammunition to reduce chance of penetration of the aircraft cabin. The communists were not the only ones who believed in gun control. The Nazis did too and so did the British nobility. Heck, they would not even allow serfs to own longbows back in the old days.