Guns On College Campuses? Oregon Court Allows Permit Holders To Bring Guns To School Grounds

Oregon has become the latest state to allow permit holders to bring weapons to their college campuses.

The Oregon Court of Appeals overturned a longtime policy of the state university system last Wednesday that barred guns from college campuses, regardless of permits, according to Inside Higher Ed. The controversial ruling makes it legal for permit holders to carry loaded weapons anywhere on public college grounds.

But according to The Register Guard, the ruling may even extend beyond concealed weapon permit holders, to those who openly carry guns.

The court ruled that state law allows only the Legislature to enact laws regulating guns and that the OUS exceeded its authority in writing the rules and attempting to bar guns.

The ruling doesn’t distinguish between people who carry guns openly and those with a license to carry concealed weapons, although the OUS rule presumably applied to both.

While the Second Amendment lies at the heart of the ruling, it seems many advocates believe allowing people to carry guns on campus is beneficial to the safety of students.

From Inside Higher ED:

Advocates of concealed carry argue that it is essential to keeping themselves or others safe. While campus police officers may protect a college to the extent that they can, license-holders would be able to respond to incidents such as the massacre at Virginia Tech University when officers don't get there in time, they say. Shootings may take place in mere minutes or even seconds, and it often takes police longer than that to arrive on the scene.

Naturally, not everyone agrees with this ruling, as many cite the potential danger of having deadly weapons on campus. Oregonian guest columnists Elise Gautier and Penny Okamoto wrote a particularly scathing piece condemning the ruling, citing numerous safety hazards, especially in the face of potentially drunken college parties. In addition they argue that the presence of weapons may increase the risk of suicide on campus,

Oregon is not the first state to allow guns on its campuses. Last year, Colorado overturned a similar measure, and Utah has a similarly relaxed law as well, according to Inside Higher Ed. At one point at least 7 states were considering allowing guns on college campuses, but since April many of those measures have either died or become severely delayed.

Comments

[ScorpioTop]

06:30 PM on 10/12/2011

30,000 Americans are killed by gun use yearly. No reason to carry a gun unless you are expecting to kill your classmates.

[CmonAlreadyWouldja]

11:33 PM on 10/17/2011

"Over a lifetime, the average man in American society has an eighty-nine percent probability of being a victim of an attempted crime of violence and the average woman has a seventy-three percent probability." (http://members.efn.org/~rolanda/discovering/chapter7.html)
No reason to carry a gun unless you are expecting to...well...exist....

[hagagaga]

12:46 AM on 10/12/2011

And this will cause problems? NO!

[molonlabe]

03:55 PM on 10/11/2011

"Since the fall semester of 2006, state law has allowed licensed individual­s to carry concealed handguns on the campuses of the nine degree-off­ering public colleges (20 campuses) and one public technical college (10 campuses) in Utah. Concealed carry has been allowed at Colorado State University (Fort Collins, CO) since 2003 and at Blue Ridge Community College (Weyers Cave, VA) since 1995. After allowing concealed carry on campus for a combined total of one hundred semesters, none of these twelve schools has seen a single resulting incident of gun violence (including threats and suicides), a single gun accident, or a single gun theft. "

http://www­.concealed­campus.org­/common_ar­guments.ph­p


Move along. Nothing more to see here except another Educational Institution finally realizing that yes, even students have COTUS rights.

[Iconcoclast]

05:39 PM on 10/11/2011

Beware the slippery slope! Next thing you know students will be demanding 1st Amendment rights too. Who knows what will be next after that...."Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together... mass hysteria! "

[ScorpioTop]

06:41 PM on 10/12/2011

Its a shame the NRA is going against our youngest and brightest. 30,000 Americans killed by gun use yearly, and the NRA says more,more,more.

[molonlabe]

03:13 PM on 10/13/2011

Sounds warm and fuzzy until you realize that about 17(k) of those 30(k) are suicides. Then you pick out the Johnny Gangbangers who repeatedly get lenient sentences only to get out and offend again. Unfortunately, gun control only regulates firearms of those who are left.

We've been over this before, ST. But I see you are modeling your argument style after the Bradys......lather, rinse, repeat. Someone's bound to bite, right?

[CmonAlreadyWouldja]

11:35 PM on 10/17/2011

It's a shame that the gun banners are going against our youngest and brightest.
"Over a lifetime, the average man in American society has an eighty-nin­e percent probabilit­y of being a victim of an attempted crime of violence and the average woman has a seventy-th­ree percent probabilit­y." (http://mem­bers.efn.o­rg/~rolanda/d­iscovering­/chapter7.­html)
And the ScorpioTops of the world say "Disarm yourself, Disarm yourself, Disarm yourself."

[grimace71]

07:21 PM on 10/10/2011

Another campus I have on my list to send my kids to. They'll probably go to a Utah school, but hey the options are growing! Good job Phoenix123 and anyone else involved in reversing this ridiculous, dysfunctional thing called "gun-free zones" (aka target-rich environment...without any fear of return fire).

[schotts]

09:05 PM on 10/10/2011

Please give Colorado State some consideration. They allow concealed carry, Ft. Collins ins an awesome town (often rated in the top 10 best places to live) and heck, it's my alma mater - notice my picture of a CSU lacrosse helmet. Played there back in the day.

[grimace71]

01:29 AM on 10/11/2011

Absolutely schotts...I spent most of my days in Cheyenne, Wyoming and frequented the Ft. Collins area often. Last time I was visiting, I hit up the Hideout and had a blast. Perhaps a little trendy for my taste, but cool biker bar nonetheless.

I have many relatives that live in or very near FC, including a cousin that is a physician at Poudre. Back in the day, I worked for a CSU grad that opened a FC-based, clone-PC manufacturer...Applied Computer Technology (out of business now, I think). It had me working all over the front range...from FC to Greeley to Windsor to Boulder, all the way down to CoSprings and even up to Cripple Creek.

D@mn I miss the rockies.

[hagagaga]

12:45 AM on 10/12/2011

I am almost definitely going to a Virginia school next year. Our attorney general has directed state universities to allow CCW holders to carry on campus.

[OdinsEye]

07:11 PM on 10/10/2011

"Oregonian guest columnists Elise Gautier and Penny Okamoto wrote a particularly scathing piece condemning the ruling, citing numerous safety hazards, especially in the face of potentially drunken college parties. "

Most students live off campus. Most frat houses are off campus. Most parties occur off campus. The people in question can already carry and possess firearms off campus. Gautier and Okamoto's OpEd is filled with inaccuracies.

[Iconcoclast]

05:41 PM on 10/11/2011

Does that mean no more watching any team beat the Yankees at my house since I have firearms in the house? After all, alcohol and near irrational dislike are in abundance at my home on those days...

[Jerry Bourbon]

01:20 PM on 10/10/2011

i'm not sure what the problem is. I mean, Gun Free Zones worked GREAT at V-Tech...

[Jerry Bourbon]

12:11 PM on 10/10/2011

Sputter, sputter...The Carnage in Oregon will probably be at least as bad as it was on college campuses in Utah!

[Old Jarhead]

12:32 PM on 10/10/2011

Yikes! All that carnage in Utah was just so, so, so...non-existent!

[David Carson]

12:32 PM on 10/10/2011

I have a suspicion that you are correct--I am still waiting for all the traffic/parking related "wild west shootouts"(TM) and "blood in the streets"(TM) promised by the Bradybots after shall issue CCW and "stand your ground" laws passed

[Old Jarhead]

04:27 PM on 10/10/2011

It;s been what, 20 years since the Brady's first opined there will be blood running like rivers in the streets, and it has yet to occur, except in the GUN FREE ZONES!

[InanimateObject]

10:09 AM on 10/09/2011

Hey everyone, how is it that in Europe, the bastion of gun control, that they are catching up to the US in shootings in gun free zone schools? Especially over the last 10-13 years up to 2011, not counting all the genocidal attacks of Hitler, Stalin, the Armenians, etc, etc, etc,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_school-related_attacks#Secondary_school_incidents

Here is the updated link for 2009-2010 in the US, rather interesting to review this incomplete sample of all the violence that occurs on or at school grounds.

http://www.schoolsecurity.org/trends/school_violence09-10.html

US School Shootings

1794-1960 10
1961-1979 10
1980-1989 13
1990-1999 32
2000-2009 67
2010-2019 7

total 139

Other Countries
1794-1960 4
1961-1979 5
1980-1989 2
1990-1999 13
2000-2009 47
2010-2019 3
total 74

Funny how that less guns doesn't equal less violence.

[rikilii]

11:20 AM on 10/09/2011

You do realize that 139 is greater than 74, and that there are more people in "other countries" than in the US, don't you?

[Jarhead1982]

11:30 AM on 10/09/2011

Explain again how the gun control inEurope has prevented that increase in European school killings as during the same time they have tightened their draconian gun laws?

Sorry my friend, the evidence of gun controls failure is self evident by the data.

Or would you want me to act like the antis and only post the good stuff?

Nope, ain't going down the path of liars and small Napoleon wannabes.

[Jerry Bourbon]

12:13 PM on 10/10/2011

And, of course, you are not mentioning knife/machete school massacres in China, which FAR outpace our numbers of school shootings.

[BigWillyG]

08:06 PM on 10/08/2011

Considering how any Senior or Grad level chemistry or engineering course will teach you how to make far more dangerous things then firearms I'm not sure what the big deal is.

Good for Oregon. Hopefully NY gets into this.

[ibivi]

11:50 AM on 10/08/2011

This is a bad idea in so many ways. If they pass this irresponsible law let's see how long before the first shooting happens not in defense of a life but because of drunkenness, a fight, accident, suicide or someone is mad at their professor, etc, etc. Don't let this happen!!!

[rikilii]

01:02 PM on 10/08/2011

There are millions of college students who live off campus and therefore are allowed to have guns in their place of residence.  Yet, as far as I know there has yet to be a case of a professor being shot by a student over a grade, and if it has happened, it's so rare as to be inconsequential.  I also am not aware of any shootings at college bars or fraternity parties off campus, where anyone with a license can carry if they want to. 

So I can't even begin to imagine why letting students carry legally when they have a license to do so would make this suddenly start happening.

[PavePusher]

01:36 PM on 10/08/2011

Right, because ink on paper is currently stopping crimes, amIrite?

[JStading]

05:56 PM on 10/08/2011

It works for Chicago - only 20 people got shot last night there.  Think about how many people would have been shot had guns been legal! (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-west-side-south-side-north-side-shooting-gun-violence-chicago-crime-20111008,0,4264575.story)

[dennis1943]

09:33 AM on 10/08/2011

Even though i am somewhat conflicted on the issue,i would still question the rationale for the statute........

[PavePusher]

01:36 PM on 10/08/2011

Because public colleges and universities don't get to pick-and-chose amongst Civil Rights.

And their "rule" can not be shown to have any impact on crime.

[phoenix182]

04:39 PM on 10/08/2011

Pre-emption? If you're interested I can fill you in. I did a fairly major academic treatment of the issue. If you're not interested or meant something else, ignore this. 8-)

[Old Jarhead]

12:36 PM on 10/10/2011

It doesn't appear as if Dennis 1943 is very interested, but I am. Any information you can post here would be greatly appreciated, and gratefully read.

[RevJimIII]

06:08 PM on 10/10/2011

I would be interested in anything written on the subject for my library.

[Grumpy Man]

11:43 PM on 10/07/2011

Congrats Oregon!

THAT was a progressive act!

Well done.

[phoenix182]

04:11 PM on 10/07/2011

This is no surprise, it's been in the works for years.

About three or four years ago I addressed a Senate Committee in Washington about this very topic. Soon after I was asked to speak to a group of Oregon lawmakers as well. The court decision reads like a transcript of my statements. It was a given, even then.

The REAL importance of the decision is to all the other pre-emption states (like Washington), that now have had the wakeup call and should roll-over rather than face costly litigation with little hope of winning. I would say it will be legal to carry on Washington public campuses in 1-3 years now.

This is a truly great day, and makes me proud of the hours I've put into this cause. *does the snoopy dance*

[Grumpy Man]

11:42 PM on 10/07/2011

Well done!!!

* APPLAUSE *

[JimInHouston]

10:11 AM on 10/08/2011

Bravo!

[Hope Richardson]

12:40 PM on 10/07/2011

Thank god I don't live there.

[JimInHouston]

03:57 PM on 10/07/2011

Given that a number of other universities around the country have had such policies for years, without ANY untoward incidents, on what do you base your fear?

[Hope Richardson]

12:43 AM on 10/08/2011

I've had to live in a state with one of the highest murder rates in the country, and there were only the bare minimum of gun control laws. Two people in my senior class were killed in a shooting, not to mention the near daily violent crimes I saw on the news for my city every morning. THAT is what I base my fear on. What makes you so UNafraid of guns?

[rikilii]

05:14 PM on 10/07/2011

Why, were you planning a mass shooting on campus?

[sfbbmom]

12:29 AM on 10/07/2011

This is beyond stupid. Let's hope not a single out-of-stater attends Oregon universities and colleges.

[phoenix182]

04:18 PM on 10/07/2011

This is the kind of common sense ruling that would encourage me to send my child to an Oregon campus.

[rikilii]

05:15 PM on 10/07/2011

Actually, what is beyond stupid is that universities are treated any differently than any other place that adults frequent.