College students at one Pennsylvania school will now be able to conceal and carry on campus — but just not at sports events or in dining halls, dorms and academic buildings.
Students and employees at Kutztown University, one of 14 state-run colleges in Pennsylvania, will now be able to request authorization from the school’s police to carry in open areas on campus.
The requests will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis by the campus police. A permit and a “compelling” personal safety reason are also required, according to Fox News.
The change was made after the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education ruled that a blanket university regulation banning guns on campuses would not be an enforceable position in a court of law. The state’s Office of General Counsel asked the university presidents to reevaluate their campus gun laws to make sure they comply with the Second Amendment. More than a year ago, students licensed to carry handguns questioned the ban, resulting in the current policy review, according to Nils Fredericksen, a spokesman for the counsel.
“While I am cognizant of the concerns associated with this change, as a state institution we must follow the advice of legal counsel and do what is necessary to comply with the Second Amendment,” Kutztown President F. Javier Cevallos wrote students in an email obtained by FoxNews.com. “I can assure you that we have done everything to implement the strongest policy possible, while staying in compliance with constitutional rights.”
Yet after the new Kutztown ruling went into effect on Friday, PASSHE asked the other schools to hold off on any changes of their own until a task force review of the new policy.
“Whatever is in effect today is what they should follow until this review is completed,” Kenn Marshall, a spokeman for the state system, told Philly.com.
Private universities in Pennsylvania are not affected by the PASSHE ruling. Five total state universities currently allow students to carry on campus, according to another Fox News article.
