Kansas regents still seek some limits on guns on campus

TOPEKA – Gun owners in Kansas will still face some restrictions at state universities even after they’re allowed to carry their concealed weapons onto campuses and into some buildings next year under a policy the state Board of Regents approved Wednesday.

The new policy will still ban the open carrying of guns, and it will require gun owners who carry concealed to keep them secure when storing them in cars or dormitories.

The policy contains an exception to the open-carry ban for someone who pulls a gun in self-defense, but it contains no specific exception for defending others.

The regents approved the policy unanimously to replace an existing ban on concealed guns on university campuses. The changes take effect in July 2017, when a state law will no longer allow the universities to keep concealed weapons off campus or outside of buildings that don’t have security measures, such as metal detectors.

The board’s policy directs the universities to develop more detailed policies by the fall for the safe storage and handling of guns on campus. The universities also must determine which buildings will see beefed-up security.

“We’re just following the law and trying to leave as much up to the universities as possible,” said Regent Bill Feuerborn, of Garnett, a former Kansas House member.

Kansas has allowed people 21 and older to carry concealed weapons since 2007 but last year abolished a requirement for obtaining a state permit and undergoing eight hours of training. In 2013, the Republican-dominated Legislature revised the concealed carry law so that gun owners could bring their weapons into more public buildings but gave the universities a four-year exemption.

The regents developed their new policy amid strong – but not universal – opposition from faculty, administrators and students.

Julene Miller, the board’s general counsel, said three other states, Colorado, Idaho and Utah, allow concealed weapons inside buildings on state university campuses, and Texas will start in August.

Jessie Pringle, student body president at the University of Kansas, said the new policy gives each school the ability to put adequate security measures in place to limit guns on campus. But she said it’s unfortunate the regents must modify their policies.

“It really wasn’t until the board decided they wanted to look at their gun policy that everyone got really excited about it as well, when really we should have begun the work back in 2013,” Pringle said.

The Legislature has strong gun-rights majorities in both the House and Senate and appears unlikely to modify the policy of allowing more concealed guns in public buildings. Supporters of the policy argue that it will allow law-abiding citizens to protect themselves and others.

Miller said the policy is specifically written so as not to encourage or require people carrying concealed on campuses to use their guns in defense of others.

She said there’s no exception to the ban on open carry for someone who draws a gun to defend others because initially, the thinking was that campuses would review such cases individually. Miller also said drafting language to cover such situations proved tricky and will require more work.

The policy also says that if a gun has a safety mechanism, it must be engaged on campus.

Regent Daniel Thomas, a Mission Hills dentist, asked, “Is there a way to say you have to have a gun that has a safety mechanism?”

Miller said the regents could be “crossing a line” by attempting to restrict the types of guns allowed on campus.

This story was originally published January 21, 2016 at 7:12 AM with the headline "Kansas regents still seek some limits on guns on campus."