LARAMIE, Wyo. — As directed by Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon, conversation and proposed rules regarding the allowance of concealed carrying of firearms on school grounds have fallen into the hands of individual school bodies around the state. At the University of Wyoming, the Board of Trustees is currently deliberating over a rule and allowed members of the university public to weigh in.
To view the proposed rule in its current state, see Cap City News’s reporting here.
University of Wyoming Board of Trustees Chairman Kermit Brown said in the meeting that, no matter what, this rule is going to pass. Because it is the vested interest of the state legislature to enact concealed carry on school campuses, it is better that the university itself decides how that should be done.
Regardless, the board still took public comment, receiving both positive and negative feedback. Here is what the people of the University of Wyoming had to say. The below individuals are identified as they announced themselves in the Board of Trustees meeting, which can be found here.
Pro-concealed carry statements
The only speaker who was decidedly in favor of the rule was Brandon Calloway, a UW law student. He said that the current rules regarding carry on campus are inconsistent and only create confusion, which leaves individuals defenseless and vulnerable.
“We’ve all heard the phrase, ‘Prepare for the worst and hope for the best.’ Well, I’m here to tell you that using hope as a tactic is a failure,” Calloway said. “True safety isn’t built on hope, it’s forged through readiness and courage to act when everything goes wrong.”
Calloway added that the rule would close critical safety gaps on campus and eliminate the fear a prospective hero might have about getting in trouble for having a gun, even if he used it to stop a dangerous individual.
“No one knows if someone is already carrying a concealed firearm inside university facilities. Students and faculty aren’t searched when entering buildings, nor could they be without violating constitutional protections,” Calloway said. “And yet, the vast majority of students and faculty come to campus without witnessing or experiencing violence involving a concealed weapon. Under the current policy, uncertainty prevails.”
Anti-concealed carry statements
A greater portion of speakers announced themselves as being entirely opposed to the rule in its current form. Many said they were students who did not want to jeopardize the safety they feel on campus by letting guns in.
Brooke Culpe, a student who said they collected a series of statements into one concrete testimonial, said that having more guns on campus could escalate minor disputes or stressful situations into deadly confrontations.
“While gun rights are important, universities are unique spaces where the primary mission is to create a safe and conducive environment for learning, not to turn classrooms into potential battlegrounds,” Culpe said. “Allowing concealed carry increases the risk of violence, particularly in intense situations.”
Liz Pearson, an elementary education major at UW, also cited the fact that classrooms around the university explore controversial subjects for the sake of education and that allowing guns into those spaces puts students at risk.
She added that she doesn’t understand why this is an issue in a location where students have been free to explore a vast array of subjects for decades without fear of violence.
“I want to ask a question, and that simple question is ‘why?’ Why is this a main discussion on campus right now? Why do we need to focus on solving an issue that is currently not a problem? Little evidence has been shown to produce benefits,” Pearson said.
Psychology student Harvest Kin said that adopting the rule is essentially an admission that the campus wasn’t safe beforehand.
“By permitting students, faculty and members of the public to carry guns on campus, the university is blatantly stating that the University of Wyoming is not currently a safe place and it burdens its staff and students with the responsibility of protecting themselves,” Kin said.
Some university staff members took an oppositional stance as well. American Heritage Center Archivist Jessica LaBozetta asked what would stop individuals from resorting to violence when their grades or education are on the line.
“What is reasonably preventing an individual from carrying a concealed firearm into a meeting with their professor who must inform the student that they did not pass an assignment? What is reasonably preventing an individual from carrying a concealed firearm into a meeting with their academic advisor, like my husband who works as an advisor in the College of Engineering, who must tell the student that they are ineligible to graduate?” LaBozetta said.
Proposed amendments to the rule
Some speakers took a stance that was not wholly in favor of or opposed to the rule, stating that they wished to see some changes to what parts of campus are exempt to firearms.
Faculty member Caroline McCracken-Flesher said to the Board of Trustees that she wishes classrooms and faculty offices be included in areas where firearms remain prohibited by virtue of being places of education. She also noted that a majority of the areas that are clearly exempt from firearm allowance are places frequented by those who are voting on the document, such as official board and governmental meeting places.
“What are not protected from firearms are classrooms and faculty offices. University classrooms and faculty offices are places of ideas, which means that they are necessarily places of contention. They’re places of great anxiety. They are places of academic rivalry,” McCracken-Flesher said. “They are not places for weaponry. They are not a place to hand over safety to unknown and unpredictable classroom attendees.”
To hear the full statements of these speakers and others, see the University of Wyoming IT Department’s YouTube channel where the November Board of Trustees meeting is being broadcast. For more information, see the below PDF of the draft rule.
