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Subscribe to RSSDENVER -- Gun-rights advocates won an important victory on Monday after the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that students and employees with concealed weapon permits can carry handguns on University of Colorado campuses, overturning a ban by the school's regents.
"We're disappointed in this instance that the State Supreme Court ruled that the regents don't have the statutory and constitutional authority to govern our campuses,” Ken McConnellogue, vice president of communications for CU, said. “We believe they are in the best position to make determinations about campus safety and the safety of our students, faculty, staff and visitors."
Gun-rights advocates had challenged the university policy that was adopted in 1994, arguing that the university's governing board had superseded state gun laws.
The justices agreed, noting that the state's concealed-carry law, passed by the state legislature, trumped the university's policy.
The court said state lawmakers had passed the concealed weapons law to provide a uniform statewide law because of "widespread inconsistencies" among jurisdictions about how to enforce gun laws.
"CU is going to have to fall in line and follow the state law just like Colorado State has been doing since 2003," said Jim Manley, an attorney for the Mountain States Legal Foundation, which represented Students for Concealed on Campus. "The problem with CU's argument is that Colorado State has been doing the opposite. They've been allowing licensed concealed carry on campus for almost a decade and they've had no problem, no safety issues."
The State Supreme Court decision remands the case back to a lower court and it may take several weeks before CU is forced to drop its ban.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Good.
Gives a whole new meaning to the phrase, "I want to talk to you about my grades, privately."
Yep, never go to class unless you are pac'n heat. I know I'm okay, but the rest of them student are drug crazed, booze fired crazies. And, oh yeah, make sure you have plenty of ammo.
That is a good thing. One legally armed person in a classroom can save the lives of all of them if the SHTF.
Or, one legally armed person can really cause a lot of death in a classroom. Really just a matter of perspective, i.e. which side of the bullet your on. Now the police won't know which are gun toting fanatics and which are killers. That's OK, they'll assume everyone is armed and will just put a bullet into the back of the head of everyone they encounter, particularly if they're carrying their grandchildren.
Dirp101 - You can see it for whatever you want, I for one am with Jerry on this though. I don't think theres a real need to call someone who wants to protect themselves, a gun toting fanatic, like they get off on having a gun on them ( maybe a few but you can't apply that to everyone ). I don't want to kill ANYBODY, but I tell you if I was getting robbed or saw a fellow person being robbed, I would rather have my gun on me then to just hope for a miracle that The police aren't busy and will show up on time.
Right because that has been happening a lot.
Well with cops like that we would be better off with armed citizens legally carrying.
Ask ANY law enforcement officer if they want to see conceal carry or open carry licensing in their jurisdiction and they will tell you NO, in no uncertain terms.
Guns don't kill people, however, people don't die of gunshot wounds when there are no guns.
And FYI, a police officer who thinks you have a gun will shoot first and ask questions afterwards.
dirp, you probably should not ask this one, nor most of the officers I know. You are wrong on a multitude of levels.
As for the rest of you, some of your comments are very valid and would be more compelling sans the slams at personalities of either the right or the left.
Do you mean like this LEO?
He is sheriff of the county where the lawsuit was filed.
AK44: I live in Illinois. We are one of the few states that does not allow the carrying of concealed weapons. Our legislature recently had a bill to allow it. I asked every cop I knew about the law and they universally were against it.
They all said that they would rather face a person with the possibility that the person is armed rather than the probability that they are armed. And each and every one of them said that if they thought a suspect was armed and likely to shoot, they would of course shoot them, that's the job.
AK44: btw: I have yet to hear of one case of a gun shot wound where a gun was not involved.
I won't talk about guns in Texas, they have a whole other level of crazy about guns there.
That is different from what you said earlier.
I am a former asst state atty.... I've always caried a gun and it prevented several incidents without ever being fired.... for civilians though you should have decided firing will probably be necessary before you produce the weapon... this is taught in license courses
But the courses are very deficient,
Thinking like that, that fast requires more extensive training than most states require
Background checks do not always include JUVINILE behaviour.... Many 18 yr olds who have been in trouble get a license as soon as they turn 18... before they get snaged again... for persons under a certain age, juvinile behavior should be weighed.......
Also violent behaviour which does not result in a conviction is not considered
I am in strong favor of all adults who have a TRULY clean record having a license and after GOOD training which PROVES their ability to THINK in a stressful situation, not just shoot, encourged to carry a good weapon for THEIR purposes.
some ladies only want to protect themselves, many ex police or military personnel are qualified to protect others with additional classroom on law and regular weapons retraining
Carriers need to think about these issues BEFORE something happens
A couple of days ago a man shot at a would-be robber AFTER the man fled..... thats rarely legal... only if he is obviously going to hurt someone else...
Fortunately he couldnt shoot well enough to hit him after 6 shots... which tells you something.
Just stealing something is NOT a basis to draw a gun... ONLY if life or injury are threatened!!
PROPERLY done concealed carry is an asset..... even today most people carry responsibly and crime is lower in states WITH carry laws
Laws don't disarm criminals
Score one for the second amendment. You remember the US Constitution right gang? Ya know the one Obammy and his Marxists are trying to trash.
That's funny. I've talked to a lot of law enforcement officers that don't seem to share your opinion.
FYI, that's called murder. Police officers are NOT above the law.
Do you people have any idea how stupid your responses to this are? First, not every Tom, Dick, & Happy Harry student gets to carry a firearm on campus. Only those that have a Concealed Weapons Permit conducive with the State's criteria for issuance. In some state's like the fine State of Texas, this may be every "ranch" hand in the State. In Colorado, it may likely be someone that has reason to carry a concealed weapon. But, not everyone gets to carry a gun. And for that matter, nobody said that there was anybody on campus that had such a permit. All they said was the State Law trumped the College Ruling, nothing more. The Writer of this article has added the rest to make the story an eye-catcher. So, take a deep breath folks. And, keep in mind that every off-duty cop attending classes, visiting campus, or climbing in a dorm window probably is carrying a concealed weapon.
How about taking the gun away from the killer............... oh ya that's already the law...they are breaking the law get them. ya that's the ticket!!!!!!
This sounds stupid with a capital S. Only time will tell just how stupid this is. Think about all of the parties with booze that occurs in frat houses. Some drunk college student is going to shoot someone just because he flunks his final. Booze and parties might bring a shoot out. And the innocent............. Jam
I agree with the right to bear arms, but you are right. In Vietnam, had to check weapons while drinking in a bar. And, yes, their were a lot of friendly fire incidents, involving hand guns.
Concealed carry is already legal on 220 campuses in 6 states. So why hasn't it already happened? Or do you think Colorado will be different because of the altitude?
Most college kids can't handle a six pack, now we're gonna give 'em six shooters too.
Apparently the intelligence learned in college didn't stay with the legislature or courts of Colorado.
I see, people who do not share your opinions and beliefs are not intelligent. Maybe next you can call them rednecks, gun nuts, or maybe even trailer trash. You know, just to prove your intellectual superiority.
At least 5 of the 7 were appointed by liberal Democrat governors and it was a unanimous decision. CU argued that they did not have to comply with the law because the university was created by the state constitution. Not even one justice agrred with them.
And just to make your day Colorado's Make My Day law was one of the first castle doctrine laws in the country.
And no they have to buy their own six-shooter. One of the students that brought the lawsuit was a 46 year old mother. So much for those crazy college kids.
So tell me what is it about the air on a college campus that makes the brains of a person who has met the following suddenly turn into crap?