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Challenge to Geo. Mason Univ. exclusion of firearms
Pleadings here. Fellow blogger Rudy Digacinto challenges GMU's ban on open carry, as violating State pre-emption, the State constitution, and the 14th Amendment. And here is NRA's amicus.
I find it rather ironic that the policy is in place at George Mason University, of all places, given Mason's enormous role in creating the first State declaration of rights, in pushing for the Federal bill of rights, and in arguing in the Virginia ratifying convention that disarmament leads to tyranny.
Comments
That policy is in effect not only at George Mason's namesake school, but it also is in effect at every state university or college in Virginia.
It's interesting that the challenge is against GMU, since GMU's law school has, perhaps, the most pro-RKBA faculty at any law school in the USA.
Posted by: AMB at May 13, 2010 07:51 AM
Yes, this case is going to set policy statewide and from a pro se litigant as well. This will be handed down well after McDonald.
It will be interesting how liberally they construe the state version.
Posted by: 5thofNov at May 13, 2010 09:36 AM
IIRC the GMU policy also forbids carry by private citizens - which is something the policies of the other public schools do not do. The others discourage but do not ban, under penalty of trespassing if my recollection is right.
That's where they overstepped.
Posted by: Diomed at May 14, 2010 03:10 AM
HOpefully what Colorado has done will be catching...all the state colleges and community colleges are reviewing and most are dropping their ban based on recent court decisions that the college regents cannot supplant the State Legislature's law on concealed carry being allowed everywhere except court buildings and lower schools...
Now we just need to get things changed so that teachers and administrators and parents can carry on lower school grounds to protect and defend our children.
Posted by: doug in colorado at May 14, 2010 12:46 PM
@DIOMED -- I was not aware that the current policy "forbids carry by private citizens." When I was a grad student at GMU a few years ago, the State statutory law had no bearing on the GMU prohibition; ordinary citizens could carry on GMU campuses if they had a concealed carry permit, which I did. However, GMU policy did not allow students, faculty or staff to possess weapons on their properties.
After a time when a couple of campus shootings (at other US universities) occurred, I just quietly carried anyway. The worst GMU admin could do was affect my academic standing, and that mattered less to me than the positive value of potentially being able to take effective action should a shooter ever arise in my vicinity (low probability, I know). The state law was not at issue, so no jail time etc. would have been at risk, at least as far as I calculated the cost.
Posted by: K. D. at May 14, 2010 06:51 PM