Gun legislation gets Utah State thinking
A bill that will strip the University of Utah of its gun ban is currently under debate in the House and there are mixed feelings on campus at Utah State University about the impact this may have.
Senate Bill 48 will give the Legislature sole authority to ban and regulate guns, prohibiting universities and other public entities from creating their own rules and policies regarding firearms.
Craig Huntzinger, a graduate student in biology and president of USU’s chapter of Students for the Second Amendment, said SB 48 is a reminder that the Legislature, and not public entities, make the laws. He said he feels the U’s gun ban is a violation of Second Amendment rights and “not a privilege to be granted and revoked at the whim of government.”
“The U of U is sending a really bad message you can pick and choose which laws you want to obey,” Huntzinger said. “In essence, what the University of Utah is doing is seceding from the state of Utah.”
Not only is the gun ban out of line with the Constitution, but will actually make campuses more dangerous, not less, Huntzinger said.
“I think it is unwise to make a ‘criminal safe zone.’ Permit holders are some of the most upright, law-abiding citizens in our communities,” he said. “Banning them from campus does not decrease the chances of crime, but increases the likelihood that when a crime does occur, people will be helpless to stop it.
“People will be at the mercy of an individual who has no regard for his own life, or the life of others, much less a little ‘No Gun’ sign on the wall.”
Craig Simper, university counsel and chief of staff at USU, said people are misconstruing this issue to be about guns when it is really about educational freedom.
“This has nothing to do with guns,” Simper said. “This has to do with the fact the U of U has a right to make its own rules and implicate rules that pertain to the education of its students, whether it be guns or Hula Hoops.”
Simper said the Third District court has already ruled in favor of the U of U and its policy, and now lawmakers are going around that ruling by creating this bill. Simper said the court found the gun ban constitutional under the First Amendment which protects educational freedom.
“The issue here is academic freedom – the right for an institution to regulate its own population,” he said.
Simper said he believes SB 48 will be found unconstitutional.
“The right for a university to make its own rules is one I hold higher than the Second Amendment because educational freedom is part of the First Amendment,” Simper said. “Courts have never given absolute uncontrolled rights to bear arms. The First Amendment trumps the Second Amendment. That was made very clear in the 1957 court case Sweezy v. New Hampshire.”
USU currently has no policy regarding guns, but Simper said USU will support the U of U in its fight to keep its gun ban based on the principle of the issue of academic freedom.
Huntzinger said that because the U of U is an entity of the state, it does not have the right to supersede the Constitution, and said he is worried about the results that could come about from losing his Second Amendment rights.
“Wherever there is genocide, private ownership of firearms has been denied,” Huntzinger said.
John Brinkerhoff, a junior in bio-veterinary science, said, “When a government starts to take the firearms from its people, that is the first step to oppression. If we lose our firearms, which is the right to protect ourselves, the government will have too much power to control our lives.”
Matt Toone, an undeclared freshman, said he feels that guns have become an institution in our society and that the Second Amendment is vital to our freedom as a nation.
“I don’t want people to take away my Second Amendment rights because it could spread to everything. I don’t think guns are dangerous – it’s people with the wrong intentions that are dangerous,” he said. “I think it’s worthless to take away guns from citizens who have them legally because the people who are committing crimes don’t have guns that are registered anyway.”
However, not all students feel that the Second Amendment guarantees guns should be allowed in educational environments.
“We’re going to class, we’re studying,” said Teri Harrison, a junior in social work. “We don’t need guns to help us study. You use guns for hunting and to protect your homes, you don’t need them in classrooms.”
Huntzinger said he feels there is a place for guns in school because “kids are worth protecting.”
D.J. Smith said he feels that while a concealed weapons permit holder has the right to carry a gun wherever they choose, guns are not necessary in the classroom. Smith also said he feels gun polices should be similar to policies against alcohol – the university’s choice.
“The university should say if they want guns or not,” Smith said. “It’s the kids that are going to USU to get an education, so if it means for students to get an education we shouldn’t have guns, then that’s what it should be.”
Harrison also said she feels that gun policies should be looked at no differently than policies regarding dry campuses, adding, “We choose to come here and abide by the rules and that should apply to guns, too.”
Heath Wing, an undeclared freshman, said he thinks any concealed weapons permit holder should be allowed to have a gun on campus, also saying that those with concealed weapons can protect others from harm. He also said he feels a gun ban would violate his rights.
“[The Second Amendment] is what separates us from a lot of other countries. Do you think Saddam would have been in power if the Iraqi’s had had guns?” he said.
While Wing said he would support a policy if the Legislature gave a school permission to make one, he feels any policy made without permission would be a violation of Constitutional rights.
“Since it’s a state-run school, it’s the state’s decision. If the state let USU make their own decision I would support that,” Wing said.
Simper said the Second Amendment is being misinterpreted and does not give everyone an absolute right to bear arms.
“Where under the Second Amendment does it say you have the right to carry a gun on campus?” asked Simper. “People are much too broad in their reading of the Constitution. The Second Amendment applies to the members of a well-regulated militia. People don’t have the absolute ability to carry guns.”
Simper, who has had a long career in the U.S. Air Force as a lieutenant colonel, said while he is a gun-owner himself, that does not mean he believes people should be able to bring their firearms anywhere they wish.
“I don’t want those people protecting me,” he said. “I’ll protect myself.”
Simper compared universities to churches, saying there should be some respect that comes with that and that schools should be regarded as “sacred places of learning.”
Simper also said, “Debate should be able to occur on campus without the slightest hint of any form of violence.”
Savannah Wiltermood, an undeclared freshman, said she thinks the founding fathers’ intent is being misinterpreted by people’s reading of the Second Amendment today.
“Our founding fathers didn’t picture these huge machine guns or automatic revolvers at our every access,” Wiltermood said. “We didn’t have a force as a nation then, now we have the National Guard and people who become soldiers who are trained to have these guns.”
Huntzinger said he reads the Second Amendment in a way that refers to the militia as the people, and not necessarily a specialized group.
However the interpretation is read, Brinkerhoff feels that the real issue of this debate is not being addressed – gun education.
“If all kids know about guns is what they see on TV and video games, that is not a realistic view of guns,” Brinkerhoff said. “Our culture has adopted the gun as an institution. We cannot hide firearms from our children – they’re everywhere. It would be wise to give them a realistic view of guns.”
Much of the controversy over this debate comes not only from poor gun education but incorrect ideas people may have of guns and gun owners, Huntzinger said. He feels that the stereotype of a typical gun owner is inaccurate.
“There has been a very well-organized effort to demonize guns and gun owners,” he said. “There is very little mention of the Second Amendment in schools. They blame guns instead of the issues.”
Wing said that growing up in Texas, guns were very important in his community and considered a good way to teach young people responsibility.
Meanwhile, the bill continues to be debated in the House. Simper said that if the U of U is allowed to keep its gun ban, extensive debate and student opinion would be taken into account before USU applied a similar policy, saying “student opinion is always taken into account.”
Huntzinger hopes that his organization can provide a voice for students who want to uphold their constitutional rights. Any questions about Students for the Second Amendment can be referred to Huntzinger at zinger@biology.usu.edu.
Simper said he hopes that people will see this issue for what it really is.
“There is so much misunderstanding of this issue,” Simper said. “The Legislature is threatening higher education with penalties for the university to exercise their well-founded Constitutional right. If gun holders had the Supreme Court backing I would argue for them just as vehemently. People are using Second Amendment as a smokescreen that hides the whole issue.”
-bnelson@cc.usu.edu