NKU’s Faculty Senate approved a resolution on concealed carry legislation being considered in the Kentucky General Assembly.
The resolution of the Faculty Senate does not necessarily reflect the views of the NKU Administration or Board of Regents.
ON PROPOSED CONCEALED-CARRY LAW
Approved by a vote of the Faculty Senate on February 27, 2017
BACKGROUND
In Kentucky, currently no permit is needed to purchase a firearm, and no person is required to register a firearm. Moreover, open carriage of firearms already is lawful except in restricted areas. Public universities, including NKU, currently qualify as areas in which carriage of firearms may be restricted.
In its current session, the Kentucky Legislature is considering two proposals that would increase carriage of deadly weapons in public places. These proposals would impact NKU directly. In particular, Section 2 of H.B. 249 would amend existing KRS § 237.115(b) to provide that:
A publicly funded college, university, or postsecondary education facility shall not restrict the carrying or possession of a deadly weapon on any property owned or controlled by the institution by a person who holds a valid concealed deadly weapon license. . .
At the same time, Section 1 of S.B. 7 would amend KRS § 527.020(2) to eliminate the current system of concealed-carry licensure, and instead would authorize every lawful owner of firearms to engage in concealed carriage of those firearms. In essence, this proposal would deem every lawful gun-owner to be a person who holds a valid concealed deadly weapon license.
Against the background of Kentucky’s existing law, the two current legislative proposals together would authorize almost anyone who has not been convicted of a serious crime to carry firearms — either openly or concealed — on our campus.
Our university would be stripped of its existing legal authority to promulgate and enforce its own policy on deadly weapons. Neither our campus police nor anyone else would know who might be carrying firearms on campus.
RESOLUTION
For the following reasons, the General Faculty of Northern Kentucky University urges the Kentucky legislature to refrain from stripping public universities in Kentucky of our existing legal authority to establish and enforce our own campus firearms policies, as Section 2 of H.B. 249 would do.
Submitted by: Michael Baranowski, Associate Professor of Political Science, Faculty Senate President, Northern Kentucky University