Media shows it's colors: Again labels anything not promoting Leftist agenda as "controversial"

03/22/2014

Alaska Senate panel OKs bill allowing concealed handguns on university campuses

JUNEAU—A controversial bill to allow people to carry concealed handguns on University of Alaska campuses has advanced from the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Senate Bill 176, authored by North Pole Republican Sen. John Coghill, would allow students, faculty, professors and visitors to conceal carry on campus as long as they are at least 21 and have a state concealed carry permit.

The Board of Regents currently limits firearms to locked vehicles or specially designated firearms lockers, provisions that Coghill and supporters of the bill said is a violation of the Second Amendment.

The original version of the bill simply barred the university's board of regents from implementing any blanket bans on firearms on campuses.

However, Coghill made the concession of requiring a state concealed carry permit—even though one isn’t required to conceal carry in Alaska—after hearing an outpouring of opposition from students, faculty, professors and even UA President Pat Gamble.

The bill would also allow firearms in dorms as long as the resident provides proof of a permit to officials and a lock box for when the firearm is not being carried.

Concerns largely focused around the bill’s impact on suicide and accidental shootings. Coghill said he understood those concerns but said that it’s still an issue of a right guaranteed by the Constitution.

“To restrict a fundamental right has to have a very compelling reason,” he said. “It has to be under some strict scrutiny, but what I’ve learned is that we have to do it in the least restrictive ways. Requiring a permit is restrictive, but it may very well be the least restrictive because we have students underage here.”

Despite the opposition testimony heard from university students and faculty, there was a small, but vocal group that supported the bill, citing issues like personal defense as a key concern. Of that group was Hans Rodvik, a University of Alaska Anchorage student who is interning in Coghill’s office and helped draft the bill.

The committee was supportive of the bill.

Sen. Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage, agreed with Coghill’s argument to focus on the Constitution, adding that other cases in Utah and Colorado haven’t produced a discernible change.

“I know there’s a lot of concern about what will happen,” he said. “I’ll just point people to Utah and Colorado (where concealed carry have been allowed for years) … and they have found neither an increase or decrease in any measure. … I think there’s some strong constitutional issues here.”

The bill had six hearings in the Judiciary Committee, more than many other bills, and took extensive public testimony on multiple days. Nonetheless, Coghill said with 30 days left in the session, the bill might not have enough time to make it into law.

“This is its first committee of referral, it may not make it out of the Legislature, but we wanted to make sure that we heard from all concerned and were as deliberative as possible,” he said.

The bill has a sizable fiscal note for the University of Alaska to study any possible need for increased security or safety measures and will likely head to the Senate Finance Committee next.

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