03/20/2014
JUNEAU—University of Alaska President Pat Gamble said even a compromise on a bill allowing the concealed carry of handguns on campus is unacceptable.
The Senate Judiciary Committee unveiled a rewrite of Senate Bill 176 Wednesday to tighten requirements for people to conceal carry on university campuses after hearing vocal opposition to bill, but Gamble remained opposed. He said the measure won’t make campuses any safer but that it would introduce a “whole bucket of problems.”
Gamble said he spoke with the university’s Board of Regents about the bill and together they determined that the current policy, which limits firearm possession to locked cars or specially designated gun lockers, doesn’t need changing.
“It looks pretty good on the record, it doesn’t look like it needs adjustment, it doesn’t look like it needs work,” he said. “So the board position and the position I speak for is that we are very satisfied with the policy we have. We have looked at the (committee substitute), it still brings to us a lot of problems. … We can’t accept the (committee substitute) as written.”
Gamble said he had concerns about safety, particularly revolving around accidental discharge of firearms, and said he’s heard from students, professors and faculty who say they’ll leave the university if the policy goes into place. The University of Alaska has said it will cost $450,000 just to study the safety implications of the bill.
Last week, the committee heard mostly opposition from students and faculty during public testimony. Many comments revolved around the stressful atmosphere of campus and concern that availability of firearms could drive up suicide rates.
SB 176, a product of North Pole Republican Sen. John Coghill’s office, proposes to allow concealed carry of firearms on university campuses. The bill, which is being driven by Coghill’s University of Alaska Anchorage intern, Hans Rodvik, would bar the Board of Regents from imposing any blanket restrictions on firearms on the campus.
The rewrite presented on Wednesday was called by Coghill aide Chad Hutchison “a reasonable compromise” to address concerns heard last week. The new version would limit concealed carry to people over 21 who have completed safety training courses and received the state concealed handgun permit, which they would have to provide to university officials before being allowed to conceal carry. It would also require people to store firearms in lock boxes when not being carried.
Gamble was dismissive of the rewrite, saying he was “not impressed” that the sponsors would compromise on what they had earlier said was a fundamental right ensured by the Constitution. He said he is ultimately concerned about students’ safety and believes limiting firearms on campuses is in line with the same state policies that keep guns out of schools, courts and the State Capitol Building.
The bill was held in committee. A number of students were in attendance at the hearing and more had attended remotely at the state’s legislative information offices. Coghill apologized for not having time for them to testify but said he would give them another opportunity during Friday’s committee hearing, which is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.
No comments:
Post a Comment