[Vision2020] Firearms Bill Worries Campus

[Tom Hansen]

"If it becomes law, . . . Guns would be allowed at athletic events."

Kinda adds a whole new dimension to college "rivalry", huh?

Idea for t-shirt text:  Nasty, Inebriated, and Armed

Courtesy of today's (March 20, 2011) Spokesman-Review.

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Firearms bill worries campus
Boise State says events would be jeopardized

BOISE – Boise State University could lose hundreds of thousands of dollars
in revenue from lost sporting and entertainment events if Idaho lawmakers
approve a bill to allow guns on college campuses, a school official says.

Bruce Newcomb, the university’s director of government affairs and a
former speaker of the Idaho House, said such a law could jeopardize
hosting events such as the NCAA men’s basketball tournament and the
scheduled 2012 NCAA Division I men’s and women’s indoor track and field
championships.

“We’re convinced this is going to interfere with those endeavors,” Newcomb
told the Idaho Statesman.

The Idaho House on Wednesday approved a bill that would allow firearms on
public university and college campuses. It now goes to the Senate.

If it becomes law, it would prohibit schools from banning firearms, either
carried openly or by people with concealed weapons permits, anywhere on
campus except in undergraduate residence halls. Guns would be allowed at
athletic events.

Idaho law now gives university and college presidents authority to
prohibit firearms on campus. Boise State University, Idaho State
University, the University of Idaho, Lewis-Clark State College and several
community colleges throughout the state have adopted their own regulations
to prohibit guns on campus.

Rep. Marv Hagedorn, R-Meridian, co-sponsored the current legislation and
disagrees that schools would experience any negative ramifications. He
also wondered how the school knows guns aren’t being taken on campus
already, especially because he said he’s often carried guns to Boise State
venues.

“My question would be to Boise State: How do they know people aren’t
carrying guns there now? None of those venues have metal detectors. They
don’t say to the visitors or the ticket-holders, ‘Don’t bring your guns
because this is a gun-free zone,’ ” Hagedorn said. “I have never
seen anything. I have carried to a lot of those venues, and I did not know
the policy, nor did I see any signs.”

Boise State spokesman Frank Zang said the campus has more than 1 million
visits annually by people attending hundreds of sports, cultural and
entertainment events.

“We are concerned that allowing guns on campus would have an adverse
effect on attracting these events to Boise,” he said. “The industry
standard does not allow weapons in the facilities.”

Creston Thornton, a concert promoter with CT Touring, said weapons are not
allowed at concerts either. Taco Bell Arena, on the Boise State campus,
has hosted concerts by the Dave Matthews Band, Toby Keith, Metallica and
Journey.

“We don’t even allow glass bottles because they can be used as weapons.
It’s just assumed there’s a no-weapons policy,” said Thornton.

Rep. Erik Simpson, R-Idaho Falls, said passing a law allowing guns on
campus would not stop the NCAA men’s basketball tournament from coming to
Boise State, where early-round games have been held eight times since
1983, most recently in 2009.

But the NCAA in its 2009 operating manual for the tournament states that
“firearms and explosives of any kind are not permitted.”

The University of Utah, however, held part of the NCAA women’s gymnastics
championship. Utah does not allow firearms bans on college campuses.

“It’s a red herring,” said Simpson. “There is no truth to it. It is not a
condition of them appearing on a campus. It’s a guideline. It’s a policy.
I don’t think policy is going to trump state law.”

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Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"The Pessimist complains about the wind, the Optimist expects it to change
and the Realist adjusts his sails."

- Unknown