The CU regents are looking to give the concealed weapon ban another shot.
On Monday, Oct. 18, the Colorado Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments for the legality of CU’s current gun ban across its Boulder, Denver and Colorado Springs campuses, according to the Associated Press.
However, Associate Vice President of University Relations Ken McConnellogue said the repeal is more of a fight for regent governance than weapons control.
“We’ve maintained all along that this case is not if concealed weapons are good or bad on campus, it’s a case whether it’s the regents’ authority to do determine that, which is outlined in the Colorado Constitution,” McConnellogue said. “The Constitution gives regency authority to govern campus. If the regents’ authority is eroded on this topic, it sets erosion on different topics and erosion causes a slippery slope.”
In April, appeals court judges ruled that due to the Concealed Carry Act of 2003, a university, like local municipalities, cannot ban a concealed weapon carry, according to the Denver Post. The regents then voted 5-4, in June, to repeal the ruling.
Now that the Colorado Supreme Court accepted the case, McConnellogue said the next step is for both sides to file grievances on the issue before an oral argument, which will be scheduled at an unknown future date.
CUPD Media Spokesman Cmmdr. Tim McGraw said the concealed weapons ban helps with campus safety, especially in the residence halls.
“It primarily keeps the guns out of the dorms,” McGraw said. “There are a lot of people who don’t have familiarity with fire arms, so safe handling and things like that just aren’t known…things like accidental discharges are certainly present in those circumstances.”
Students who want to store weapons on campus can use the police lockers at the CUPD headquarters, McGraw said, an option he said he thinks that students appreciate.
“I think they prefer having them here because they know that [their weapons] are safe,” McGraw said.
Students on campus are divided on whether or not the ban should be lifted.
Caitlin DeStefano, a 20-year-old junior ecological biology major, said she thinks students should not be allowed to carry concealed weapons.
“A lot of stress happens here on campus and there’s someone imbalanced who has a concealed weapon, something bad can happen,” DeStefano said.
Keron Hoetzel, a 20-year-old international affairs and Chinese history major, said she felt differently, especially since concealed weapons have not caused problems on other Colorado university campuses.
“Overall, I think it’s okay…there might be some who carry them for self-defense,” Hoetzel said. “If [CSU] isn’t having problems, then I don’t know why we would.”
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Rose Heaphy at Josephine.heaphy@colorado.edu.
