No University of Colorado students have chosen to move into the new gun-friendly areas of residence that were set up in August, according to university spokesperson Ken McConnellogue.
On Aug. 16, the University of Colorado’s Boulder and Colorado Springs campuses announced plans to ban firearms in university housing, except in specific upper-year buildings. Any student who wanted to keep guns on campus would have to make a request to move into those upper-year houses, but so far no students have asked, McConnellogue said.
McConnellogue explained that the school did not know how many students were going to ask.
“Frankly, we didn’t know what to expect,” he said. “We know the population of students eligible— those who are 21 or older and living in a residence hall— is a small population.” The Boulder campus said in a statement that only two per cent of its undergraduate students living on campus meet the requirements.
The school had previously banned all students and employees from carrying guns across its campuses, but the Colorado State Supreme Court reversed that ban when the court found it was in violation of state law.
The court’s decision said Colorado’s Concealed Carry Act “intended to divest the [university] of its authority to regulate concealed handgun possession on campus.”
Boulder campus chancellor Philip P. DiStefano said in a statement that he believes the designation of only certain dorms as gun-friendly is a “reasonable step” to follow the court’s ruling.
The school could have banned firearms in all houses, McConnellogue said, but the university chancellors “did want to provide a reasonable accommodation” for students who wanted to keep guns on campus.
As a result of the court’s decision, students and staff with permits are now allowed to carry firearms on university grounds, as long as the firearm isn’t visible. McConnellogue said that has made some faculty and students concerned.
“There’s a fair amount of unease across our campuses with this ruling,” McConnellogue said.
As a result of the court’s decision, students and staff are now allowed to carry firearms at the university, as long as they aren’t visible.
University of Colorado law professor Marianne Wesson said she knows of one student who holds a concealed carry permit.
But what makes her and fellow staff uneasy is not knowing which other students might be carrying a gun.
“I was concerned about the idea that students would be attending my classes while armed, or coming to meet with me in my office while armed, and I can say a considerable number of my colleagues share that concern,” Wesson said.
Denver campus student government president Gordon Hamby said that students on his campus seem generally unfazed by the new rules. He said he hadn’t seen a change in the “general population” of the university, but concerns are more likely to be voiced in smaller student and faculty meetings.
He explained that the gun rules are not usually discussed.
“It’s suffice to say that there is not a huge fear,” Hamby said.
According to Hamby, the Intercampus Student Forum, made up of the student government executives of all four University of Colorado campuses, have drafted a resolution that supports giving the university’s governors the right to regulate guns on campus.
On Nov. 29, satirist Stephen Colbert gave University of Colorado students a “wag of the finger” on his nightly comedy show for not moving into the “gun dorms.”
“This is college! It’s time to get crazy. Do shots, take shots, get shot. Maybe join a fraternity like ‘Ima Poppa Kappa!’ . . . live a little, if not very long,” Colbert said.
