Colorado State University's Policy on Concealed Carry

This is a surprising article:

Police at the University of Northern Colorado and the University of Colorado say allowing concealed weapons on campus is more trouble than its worth, but Colorado State University is sticking to its policy that allows permit-holders to carry their guns.

CSU doesn't allow guns in its dormitories, instead forcing students to store their weapons at the police department, but three years ago reaffirmed its concealed-carry policy. The university will review the policy because of the Virginia Tech shootings, though there's no timeline for the review.

CSU's police chief deferred comment to a CSU spokesman, who said the university doesn't have an official opinion about whether allowing or banning concealed weapons improves campus safety. CSU police recommended in 2004 that the school allow permit holders to carry guns.

"There was a lack of concrete information on whether it was safer to allow or not allow (concealed weapons) on campus," university spokesman Brad Bohlander said.

The number of concealed-carry permits issued in Larimer County exploded after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. In 2002, the Larimer County Sheriff's Office issued 1,072 concealed weapons permits, which nearly doubled the county's permits to 2,264.

Since then, the number of permits has grown to 3,078. Permits are good for five years.

It's unknown how many of those permit-holders are college students.

Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden denied a Coloradoan request for a list of concealed-weapon permit holders in the county. Under state law, as the custodian of those records, it's up to Alderden to decide whether to release them.

Colorado law allows permit holders to carry their weapons on campus but also allows the governing board of each school to prohibit them, steps UNC and CU have taken.

After recounting the traditional arguments against from the University of Northern Colorado and Colorado University spokesmen:

But count Alderden as an advocate for allowing guns on campus. He also said gun carriers should intervene when they can.

When an area such as a public school or a college campus goes gun-free, there's nothing to deter a would-be shooter because they know there isn't anyone with a concealed weapon in that place, Alderden said.

A faculty member or student with a concealed weapon could have helped the Virginia Tech shooting, which killed 33 people, including the gunman, end differently, Alderden said. He cited the Oct. 1, 1997, shooting at Pearl High School in Pearl, Miss., as an example.

On that day, 16-year-old Luke Woodham opened fire with a rifle at the school, killing two girls and wounding seven others before he was confronted by Vice Principal Joel Myrick, who had retrieved his .45-caliber handgun from his car. Myrick chased Woodham down and held him until police arrived.

By comparison, a student at Hamline University in Minnesota merely suggested that the university's gun-free policy was a mistake--and was suspended and ordered to seek psychological counseling:

In the aftermath, officials at Hamline University sought to comfort their 4,000 students. David Stern, the vice president for academic and student affairs, sent a campus-wide email offering extra counseling sessions for those who needed help coping.

Scheffler had a different opinion of how the university should react. Using the email handle "Tough Guy Scheffler," Troy fired off his response: Counseling wouldn't make students feel safer, he argued. They needed protection. And the best way to provide it would be for the university to lift its recently implemented prohibition against concealed weapons.

"Ironically, according to a few VA Tech forums, there are plenty of students complaining that this wouldn't have happened if the school wouldn't have banned their permits a few months ago," Scheffler wrote. "I just don't understand why leftists don't understand that criminals don't care about laws; that is why they're criminals. Maybe this school will reconsider its repression of law-abiding citizens' rights."

...

On April 23, Scheffler received a letter informing him he'd been placed on interim suspension. To be considered for readmittance, he'd have to pay for a psychological evaluation and undergo any treatment deemed necessary, then meet with the dean of students, who would ultimately decide whether Scheffler was fit to return to the university.

The consequences were severe. Scheffler wasn't allowed to participate in a final group project in his course on Human Resources Management, which will have a big impact on his final grade. Even if he's reinstated, the suspension will go on his permanent record, which could hurt the aspiring law student.

"'Oh, he's the crazy guy that they called the cops on.' How am I supposed to explain that to the Bar Association?" Scheffler asks.

He has also suffered embarrassment. Scheffler obeyed the campus ban and didn't go to class, but his classmate, Kenny Bucholz, told him a police officer was stationed outside the classroom. "He had a gun and everything," Bucholz says. Dean Julian Schuster appeared at the beginning of class to explain the presence of the cop, citing discipline problems with a student. Although Schuster never mentioned Scheffler by name, it didn't take a scholar to see whose desk was empty.

Scheffler has tried to get answers from the university, to no avail. On April 25, he called President Hanson's office to request a meeting, but when he told the secretary his name, she claimed the computer system had crashed and she couldn't access the president's schedule. She promised to call Scheffler back, but more than a week later, he's still waiting.

Hamline administrators were similarly circumspect when a reporter called. School officials declined to be interviewed, citing student privacy concerns. Requests for information were diverted to lawyer Rebecca Bernhard, who said Hamline acted appropriately in light of recent events at Virginia Tech. "Hamline takes campus safety very seriously," she says.

Now to be fair, Scheffler had also expressed disapproval of the university's "diversity programs," feeling that they were discriminating against him for being a white male, and I guess by the standards of Hamline University, that makes him a dangerous lunatic.