LARAMIE, Wyo. — Among other items included in the University of Wyoming’s Board of Trustees’ November meeting agenda is discussion of a proposed rule for allowing the concealed carrying of weapons on campus. If the rule is adopted, arms-bearers would only need approval by the school’s police.
On Thursday, Nov. 21 at 11:45 a.m., trustees are expected to discuss Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon’s directive for the university to establish a concealed carry policy for its campus.
In March, following this year’s state legislative session, Gordon vetoed a bill passed by both the State House and State Senate that would have allowed anyone legally permitted to carry a concealed firearm to do so at any public school or university event so long as alcohol was not being presently served.
Gordon’s incentive behind the veto was to pass the decision onto the individual entities it would have impacted, like the individual school districts and the university, rather than enforce a single rule for the whole state. The governor clarified that he was in favor of the Second Amendment.
Now, following Gordon’s advice, the trustees are preparing to establish their individual policy on the possession of firearms on campus. In the newly released agenda for the Nov. 20–22 meeting, the draft rule that the board will consider was published to the public for the very first time.
Inside the conceal carry draft rule
According to the meeting’s agenda, feedback on the issue was collected from UW faculty and presented to the board in September. The board’s Legislative Relations Committee then prompted administration to draft the rule that will be presented Nov. 21.
The draft rule, included in PDF format below, firstly establishes that any individual interested in possessing a firearm on campus would first need the approval of the University of Wyoming’s Security Service prior to any instance of possession on campus.
Alongside firearms, the agenda establishes a list of other “dangerous weapons” included in this proposed rule.
According to the rule, dangerous weapons include, “any firearm, explosive, paintball gun, air soft gun, taser or other electronic restraint device, sling-shot, mace or pepper spray container in excess of 1 ounce, knife (blades 3” or longer except in the apartments
or for cooking purposes only), precursor for explosives, brass knuckles, blowgun,
dart gun, bow, arrow, and martial arts weapons, including but not limited to a star,
sword, nun chuck, and club.”
In order to possess any dangerous weapon on campus, faculty, staff, students or members of the public would need to submit an annual notice to the university. This notice would require a valid weapons permit and interested persons would need to sign a written acknowledgement stating the following:
- They will “carry their permit, together with valid identification, at all times when carrying a concealed Firearm.”
- They will “display both the permit and valid identification upon request by UWPD.”
- Any possessed weapon will be fully concealed and secured at all times.
- Any weapons not on the individual will be safely stored in an approved weapons locker within the person’s direct control.
Exceptions
While the above language of the rule suggests that, as long as the carrier has their weapon completely hidden, they are allowed to possess their weapon anywhere on campus, there are location-specific exceptions.
The draft rule first states that no person can bring their concealed weapon into an area primarily used for law enforcement operations, including any detention facility, without written consent.
Weapons cannot enter any room being used to adjudicate or deliberate cases of law. The exception to this is when a room typically used for judicial purposes is being used as a classroom, which is sometimes the case at the university’s College of Law.
Firearms are prohibited anywhere the legislature, including any incorporated committee, or any governmental entity is meeting.
Notably, weapons would be prohibited from any athletic event that has no relation to firearms. This includes any University of Wyoming football, basketball, volleyball, soccer, swimming and diving, track and field and cross-country events. Even when athletic events are not in session, anywhere alcohol is sold and consumed is also off-limits to guns.
Any health or wellness facility — all of which are listed in the below file — is also set to be a gun-free zone. Additionally, any lab or facility with hazardous materials or controlled substances will be free of weapons.
Per the draft rule, it would be the responsibility of the university’s police department to enforce the rule and confiscate a firearm if need be.
This draft rule, as well as the full list of items contained within the University of Wyoming Board of Trustees’ agenda, will be discussed starting Wednesday of next week. To view the rest of the agenda, see the UW Board of Trustees web page.
The UW College of Law’s Firearms Research Center is also set to host a series of information sessions in the following days to educate the campus community on these proposed changes. The schedule of those events can be found here.
