The Colorado Supreme Court will hear a case that will decide if the University of Colorado can ban firearms on campus, the Court announced in mid-October.

An organization that advocates for students’ right to carry guns on campus says the university is violating a statute passed by the Colorado Legislature in 2003 called the Concealed Carry Act. The statute standardized the ability to gain a permit for a concealed weapon across counties in the state.

The act also stipulated that applicants for the concealed carry of weapons must be legal residents of Colorado, be 21 years old, have a clean record and not abuse drugs or alcohol, according to the statute. Applicants must carry the permit with the concealed firearms at all times.

The statute also contained a list of four areas where concealed weapons were not permitted: K-12 schools, any public building where people are screened by security, private property and any place where the federal law prohibits carrying firearms, according to the act.

After the statute went into place, the Colorado state universities and community colleges lifted their ban. But CU, a second public university system that has had a ban against weapons on campus since the 1970s, did not, said Dan Wilkerson, the counsel and secretary of the Board of Regents for CU.

The Board of Regents, the governing body of CU, believes it has the ability to ban weapons on campus, Wilkerson said.

‘Our approach is that this really isn’t about guns on campus,’ Wilkerson said. The emotional issue is that guns would be allowed on campus, he said, but he believes the real matter at hand is whether the Board of Regents can ensure safety on campus.

Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, LLC, brought the issue to court in December 2008. The initial case was dismissed in April 2009, meaning the campus-wide ban would stay in place. The Court of Appeals reinstated the issue in April 2010, which said CU was in violation of the statute by prohibiting concealed weapons.

In June, the Board of Regents voted 5-4 to appeal the decision made by the Court of Appeals to the state Supreme Court. Two weeks ago, the Colorado Supreme Court agreed to hear the case.

Jim Manley, the Mountain State Legal Foundation staff attorney representing the Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, said the group believes the university’s ban on firearms violates the state constitution because it is a total prohibition on firearms.

‘We think it’s clear from the law that the regents were stripped of their authority to regulate the aspect of guns on campus’ when the legislation passed, Manley said.

Manley said the tragedy at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University jostled the students at CU. After that incident, students started to organize and demand their rights be recognized, Manley said.

One of the members of Students for Concealed Carry on Campus is an older woman who has returned to the CU system to get her undergraduate degree, Manley said. She works a full-time job and attends classes on the Denver campus early in the morning and late at night. Manley said his client feels uncomfortable walking in a big city in the dark as a woman and wants to exercise her right to carry. Manley said his other clients listed in the lawsuit have similar concerns.

‘Whether we agree with the wisdom of their decision to carry, legislation has decided they have the right,’ Manley said.

Jessie Zweibel, a sophomore psychology major at CU Boulder who is not involved in the lawsuit, said she would feel uncomfortable if guns were allowed on campus, but she does not think a large proportion of students would get permits for concealed carry weapons if they were allowed.

‘In general, though, I think it’s safe to say that most students are against the Concealed Carry Act and would prefer to have knowledge of a safer gun-free campus,’ Zweibel said.

Zweibel said she does not see why guns should be part of campus life and said she thinks the Board of Regents should have the last say in the matter.

‘I think for an issue of safety, the people who know the situation best ought to make the conclusion,’ Zweibel said. ‘In this case, that’s the CU Board of Regents, who know the campus well enough to know the severity of the consequences.’

medelane@syr.edu

 

Published on November 2, 2010 at 12:00 pm

Contact Meghin: medelane@syr.edu | @meghinwithani