Carry On Campus

The University of Colorado lost a battle in the state supreme court over whether it could prohibit concealed weapon permit holders from carrying on campus.  But in the grand tradition of Alabama Gov. George Wallace's defiant 1963 inaugural speech, "segregation today, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever", there are professors who imagine themselves above the law.  Fortunately, while the administration of the University of Colorado is not friendly, they at least know what the law requires.  From the August 21, 2012 Daily Camera (the student paper there):

University of Colorado Chancellor Phil DiStefano notified the Boulder campus faculty Tuesday afternoon that professors "do not have the right to shut down a class or refuse to teach" should they learn that one of their students is lawfully carrying a gun under a concealed-carry permit.

And, DiStefano added, any faculty members who do so will be in violation of their contracts and face disciplinary action.

DiStefano's message comes a day after Professor Jerry Peterson, chairman of the Boulder Faculty Assembly, told the Daily Camera that, under his own "personal policy," he plans to cancel class if he ever learns any of his students are carrying firearms. A Colorado Supreme Court ruling this spring overturned CU's Boulder campus gun ban, and university officials say that students with conceal-carry permits are allowed to bring guns into classrooms and labs.

If where I teach allowed concealed carry permitholders to carry on campus, I would be pleased to know that there was a permitholder in my classroom.  While we have little to fear from ordinary criminals where we are, there is a tiny risk of the sort of lunatic mass murderer that has been a problem at other colleges around the country (and in other countries as well).  If that very unlikely risk but enormous consequences event happened, I would be glad to have students, faculty, or staff who were able to return fire.

Hat tip to Shall Not Be Questioned for bringing this to my attention.