Visitors Now:
Total Visits:
Total Stories:
Profile image
By Gun Watch (Reporter)
Contributor profile | More stories
Story Views

Now:
Last Hour:
Last 24 Hours:
Total:

Effort under way to allow guns on Montana college campuses

Monday, November 5, 2012 23:30
% of readers think this story is Fact. Add your two cents.

(Before It's News)

MISSOULA — On a hot summer evening in 2011, University of Montana police and the Missoula Police Department responded to calls of a shooting in the parking lot of the campus dining hall.

The 19-year-old victim had suffered a shotgun wound to the hand. The 20-year-old suspect, later identified as Michael Ream, was taken into custody without incident. As it turned out, the two were buddies and the .20-gauge shotgun had accidentally discharged, marking the first time a weapon had been fired on campus in nearly 30 years.

The Montana Board of Regents has strict policies regarding firearms on public campuses across the state. The law has been unchanged for years, and allows only trained and certified security officers to carry weapons on school grounds.

Students who want access to their firearms must store them in a campus gun locker. They can check them out as they please to hunt and sport shoot. They cannot, however, carry them to class or handle them in their dorm rooms.

“Things have run smoothly with our current policy and procedures,” said Kevin McRae, associate commissioner of higher education for the Montana University System. “There’s already a state law saying you can’t carry a concealed weapon in a state building. Additionally, we have a Board of Regents policy saying that only an authorized campus security officer can carry a weapon.”

While some argue that the state’s policies work just fine, as evidenced by the lack of problems reported by campus police, Gary Marbut, president of the Montana Shooting Sports Association, stands among gun rights advocates who believe that the Board of Regents has no authority to ban firearms on campus.

more here



Source:

Report abuse

Comments

Your Comments
Question   Razz  Sad   Evil  Exclaim  Smile  Redface  Biggrin  Surprised  Eek   Confused   Cool  LOL   Mad   Twisted  Rolleyes   Wink  Idea  Arrow  Neutral  Cry   Mr. Green

Top Stories
Recent Stories

Register

Newsletter

Email this story
Email this story

If you really want to ban this commenter, please write down the reason:

If you really want to disable all recommended stories, click on OK button. After that, you will be redirect to your options page.