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Is that a gun in your pocket, or...
In wake of tragedy gun advocates question campus weapons ban
By Elena Brown
brownele@mscd.edu

Auraria is one of many campuses that ban weapons, and the recent shootings at Virginia Tech, along with a mass e-mail recently sent out encouraging students to carry guns, have students debating that policy.

While Colorado state law allows one to carry a concealed weapon with a permit, a provision in that law allows the Auraria Board to make its own weapons policy. If students are found to have a gun on campus, they are escorted off campus, a judicial officer is notified and they may eligible for expulsion for violating code of conduct, according to Auraria Higher Education Center policy 28.

Some see the policy as unfair.

“The ban should be lifted,” Metro criminal justice major Matt Grise said. “For my personal safety I would prefer a gun.”

Fellow criminal justice major Chris Ambrose agreed.

“I’d rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it,” he said.

Ambrose, 28, has had a concealed weapons permit for more than two years and admits to owning guns, including a Glock .38. Between the two students they own handguns, a rifle and a shotgun.

Not everyone agrees with them, including students such as Nini Berndt.

“I wouldn’t feel safer with a student with a gun,” the UCDHSC creative writing student said. “I think carrying a weapon would cause more problems than fixing them.”

In efforts to make students feel safer, the Auraria police began a buddy walk program and have increased their visibility. But Heather Coogan, chief of Auraria police, said personal responsibility is just as important.

“Many people are walking around with their iPods or on their cell phones and not paying any attention to their surroundings,” she said. “People should take responsibility for their safety. But guns are simply not allowed.”

Instead of guns, a more humanistic approach should be taken while on campus, suggested Metro criminal justice assistant professor Noah Fritz.

“Colleges are institutions of knowledge and intelligence,” Fritz said. “We can not turn this into a place of fear. I’m not opposed to helping, fighting or protecting my students, but I’m not going to do it with a firearm.”

“When you advertise this is a gun-free zone, just what exactly are you telling the bad guys?” president of the Colorado State Shooting Association Tony Fabian said.

Fabian, also a defense attorney, suggested the policy takes away from the rights of Colorado citizens.

“It is everyone’s right to carry a firearm,” he said. “Why should colleges be any different than any place else?”

Debate about the campus policy continued in light of an anonymous mass e-mail that was sent April 20 to various Colorado schools.

The e-mail came on the eighth anniversary of the Columbine High School shootings and four days after the Virginia Tech shootings. It urged students and faculty to go to school armed “so that if need be they can quickly dispatch of those who might wish to prey upon their fellow man.” While the origin of the e-mail is being investigated, the views expressed are echoed by many local gun businesses and organizations.

“Virginia Tech is also responsible for these murders,” said Dudley Brown, Rocky Mountain Gun Owners’ founder and president. “If anyone had a concealed weapons permit, we hope they sue.”

Last year two bills in Virginia were defeated that would give college governing boards the authority to regulate firearms on campus. The school was a main speaker against the bill, saying guns would not make the campus safer.

“I wonder how they feel now?” Fabian asked.

Metro, UCDHSC and CCD have a combined population of about 40,000 students, faculty and staff. That’s just shy of the total population of Littleton, according to data from the Auraria Higher Education Center and the Littleton City Council.

And while Auraria is one of Colorado’s largest campuses, it is also undermanned. There are 19 security guards and police officers on a campus with a budget for 22. Despite such a large campus, crime is down, according to Coogan.

“Auraria has one of the lowest crime rates in America,” she said. “Not by accident, but by our actions.”

But students like Grise are taking their safety into their own hands, and they aren’t alone. Currently, there are 87 pending concealed weapons permit applications with 36 issued since January, according to the Denver Police Department.

The permit application, which can be found online and at local police stations, requires a minimum age of 21, $152.50 for a background check and a certificate of weapons training. The permit is issued about 90 days later and is valid for five years.

Representatives said there hasn’t been a spike in permit applications and that they have remained consistent over the past few years. Last year, more than 1,000 permits were issued in El Paso County and more than 200 were issued in Denver County, according to a report to the Colorado General Assembly.

Blake, a 22-year-old Metro criminal justice major that declined to give his last name, was excited to have his permit.

“I’ve had it about a month,” he said. “Because there’s a lot of crazy-ass people out there.”