Gun-toting students win court battle against school
April 26, 2010 by Taylor HanniganPosted in: From the Courts, In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views
School policy banned firearms possession on campus without written permission. But a state law said something else.
A section of Colorado’s Concealed Carry Act (CCA) says people who have a permit to carry a concealed handgun can carry their guns with them anywhere in the state, subject to a list of exceptions. Public universities are not on the list.
Three University of Colorado students sued the school to challenge the policy, saying it violated the CCA and their constitutional right to bear arms. A lower court dismissed their claims.
On appeal, the students narrowed their claim to one asserting a right to carry guns in a motor vehicle when traveling on or through campus. The appeals court reinstated their claims, saying the lower court acted too quickly in dismissing them. The case continues.
Cite: Students for Concealed Carry on Campus v. Regents of the University of Colorado.
Should students with permits be able to have guns on campus? Tell us what you think in the comments section below.
HigherEdMorning delivers the latest HigherEd news once a week to the inboxes of over 200,000 HigherEd professionals.
Click here to sign up and start your FREE subscription to HigherEdMorning!
Tags: guns, school safety, University of Colorado
Loading ...
April 28th, 2010 at 2:23 pm
Yes they should, and they should be allowed to carry on their person. See plenty of debate about this at:
http://www.higheredmorning.com/ready-for-guns-on-campus
April 28th, 2010 at 4:54 pm
Citizen’s persons and property are always at risk whether they are legally armed or not. They need to acknowledge the risks they encounter whether they meet up with a criminal or a law enforcement officer and whether or not having access to a weapon enhances or detracts from that encounter. There is a marked difference between being right and ending up dead right.
April 29th, 2010 at 9:25 am
Apparently, the civilized world does not appeal to some Americans so they are pulling us back to the Wild West, the Segregated South, the Salem Witch Trials, etc. History has taught us nothing it seems. Killings on campuses have taught us nothing either. We have become a very sad society.
April 29th, 2010 at 2:40 pm
You’re absolutely right, Civilized World! To protect our students and ourselves, we need colleges to be gun-free zones just like Virginia Tech is! The gun-free zone really worked there, didn’t it?
April 30th, 2010 at 10:15 am
No, it did not, because no one paid attention to the preceding signs of trouble to come. However, why not look at the campuses where gun-free zones do work. We cannot arm everyone without having disasters everywhere.
May 1st, 2010 at 11:15 am
Gun-free zones don’t work unless the criminals decide they will get on board (ever heard the word utopia?).
May 3rd, 2010 at 11:14 am
I have heard of it. It is a myth. Let’s deal in reality. We should have better mechanisms to deal with the criminals, the terrorists, and those with anger issues; not regress to the uncivilized wild west.
May 3rd, 2010 at 11:36 am
CW, my point was that gun-free zones do NOT work and that those who advocate for them are the ones believing in a utopia (again, criminals aren’t going to obey your “No weapons” signs, only the law-abiding will). Sorry, but exercising the God-given right to defend myself and my family is not being uncivilized, it is being realistic. Criminals knowing that they can freely prey upon civilly disarmed people is what is uncivilized. Your belief that responsible people being able to carry weapons leads to an “uncivilized wild west” has simply not been proven to be true. This argument (irrational fear) has been thrown about every time a state, beginning with Florida, has passed a “shall issue” carry law, and guess what: no wild west has broken out when it comes to concealed carry holders.