The issue of concealed carry on campus has been gaining traction nationally since the Virginia Tech massacre. For example, there is a national group, Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, dedicated to the cause. Similar legislation has been introduced in other states as well, such as Oklahoma.

Unfortunately, all of these bills have faced stiff opposition from college administrators, faculty members, so-called “safety experts” and liberal politicians. (The Oklahoma bill failed, by the way.) This new spat of legislation is no different. Missouri Representative and Democrat Chris Kelly was quoted as saying: “College boys love things that go boom. What we don’t need is beer and college boys and firearms.”

What nannies like Kelly want is to maintain an unfair double-standard. Law-abiding and licensed students are allowed to carry concealed firearms almost anywhere (depending on the vagaries of their state laws), yet they are forbidden to defend themselves on a college campus. People like Kelly demean and patronize these citizens.

What this also creates are conflicts between state laws and university codes, such as in Oregon, where a student at Western Oregon University was punished for having a handgun on campus, even though the police determined he had committed no crime.

At Central Connecticut University, a professor recently filed a complaint against a student, saying the student made the class feel “scared and uncomfortable” after he gave a presentation advocating concealed carry on campus. That night, the student was called into the campus police station, where police grilled him about the firearms registered in his name and where he kept them.

How wonderful that students are being harassed by universities and police for merely speaking up for the Second Amendment. I can’t really say anything more concise or to the point than the kicker quote at the end of the article, though:

“If you can’t talk about the Second Amendment, what happened to the First Amendment?” asked Sara Adler, president of the Riflery and Marksmanship club on campus. “After all, a university campus is a place for the free and open exchange of ideas.”

Hat tip to The Agitator.

Jeffrey Maxwell, who is also a former Marine, was first arrested by Monmouth police on Jan. 28 for possessing a firearm on campus, but the charges were later dropped by the county DA, who said:”I believe the Monmouth Police Department issued the citation in good faith and that there was an arguable violation. However, a careful reading of the statute and the facts led me to conclude the charge was not in the best interest of justice.”

You see, Oregon state law prohibits firearms in public buildings, but with the explicit exception of those with concealed handgun licenses. Nevertheless, WOU went ahead and punished Maxwell anyway, suspending him and sentencing him to:

“a psychological evaluation stating he is not a threat to himself of others” and a mandatory “ten page paper” ” with references, “citing, but not limited to:
1) the importance of following the law, even through civil disobedience.
2) the importance of accepting responsibility for one’s actions
3) and recognizing the impact possession of weapons on college campuses has on others.”

Unfortunately, WOU’s deplorable actions are par for the course in Oregon. Oregon universities have been ignoring, if not outright flouting, this law for years. University conduct codes are not above state or federal law, no matter how much administrators wish it so. Thankfully, the Oregon Firearms Federation has taken on Maxwell’s case, and the Oregon University System’s misguided policies will soon be stricken down.

For more on the issue, check out Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, a great group pushing for students’ Second Amendment rights.

*This is the second time I’ve had to write about Western Oregon University recently. The first time was when WOU punished a student journalist and his newspaper adviser for revealing a serious privacy flaw in its computer systems. Way to go, WOU. Way to go.