KS: Universities to Educate about Concealed and Open Carry

Gun Watch ^ | 20 August, 2015 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

In 2012, Kansas reformed its concealed carry law.   People who were exercising their Second Amendment rights would no longer be excluded from public buildings, unless the building took active measures to insure that armed criminals would also be excluded.  Active measure included guards and metal detectors on entrances.  From kansan.com:

The law would allow the University to secure the campus against guns by using metal detectors and guards, but it would cost more than $20 million to secure all 237 campus buildings, according to a 2013 report that the University gave to the Board of Regents.

If the University did not implement that security, anyone would be able to bring a concealed gun into any University building at any time.

The Kansan is a university newspaper; still I think that even a university paper writer would understand the irony of that statement.  It is a truism.  If you do not have protective measures in place, anyone could bring a concealed gun into any university building. 

What the law changes, is that people who are legally carrying guns, would no longer be subject to prosecution for doing so in areas on universities that are unsecured.  The law does away with numerous illusory "gun free zones".

A task force is being formed to educate people on campus to deal with the changes in the law.   It appears that one of the major concerns is to prevent the "swatting" of people legally carrying firearms.    In discussions about people exercising Second Amendment rights, disarmists often suggest that police be called, and the danger to the public be lied about and enhanced.  Some hope to start a gunfight between legal carriers and police.  From the Kansan:

“We’ll discuss what it will mean for the University and how to best deal with the situations that may arise so that no one calls 911 every time they see a gun because we can’t learn and work in those conditions,” Williams said.

This is a good item to focus on.  There are seven other states that allow concealed carry on campus.   There have not been any significant problems in those states. 

Kansas law already prevents local governments from prosecuting legally armed people for openly carrying firearms.   The law allows local units of government to ban openly carried firearms from buildings if proper signage is posted; but no criminal penalties are allowed.  From kslegislature.org:

(c) It shall be a violation of this section to carry an unconcealed firearm if the building is posted in accordance with rules and regulations adopted by the attorney general pursuant to subsection (d). Any person who violates this section shall not be subject to a criminal penalty but may be subject to denial to such premises or removal from such premises.

It appears that it is already legal to openly carry firearms on Kansas universities, as long as they are not carried into buildings that have the proper signage.

I have not seen any stories of disruptions of Kansas places of higher education due to the presence of firearms.  Perhaps the task force will not face such a difficult problem after all.

Definition of disarmist

©2015 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.

[marktwain]

Once the taboo is broken, the irrationality is exposed. The disarmists in the halls of higher education have built up the myth that weapons have no place in the modern temples of "Progressivism".

Now that is being challenged and the old taboo is being exposed as the shamefull political lie that it always has been.

[T-Bird45]

I can just imagine the exploding heads at KU and in Lawrence. Your article’s point about the number of states that allow campus carry without incident is good to know as this is a continuing bone of contention in OK. The ability of the ivory tower crew to constantly recycle flawed arguments is interesting.

[fini]

I went to Washington & Lee University Law School in the mid 90s. There was no rule about guns and we used to hunt before school and shoot clays after school. So it was quite normal to see someone cleaning a shotgun in the school lounge. If a pistol was needed as a prop for mock court, a real pistol would be borrowed.

The students from the North were usually alarmed at the beginning, but settled down quickly. In fact, one guy from the inner city of Jersey City became a dedicated hunter.