By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
President Mary Ellen Mazey is not planning at this point to change the Bowling Green State University’s policy against carrying concealed weapons on campus as allowed in legislation just signed by Gov. John Kasich.
Senate Bill 199, which contains the provisions of House Bill 48, broadens where the concealed weapons can be carried including to universities and child care centers.
However, the board of trustees must vote to allow such an expansion of concealed carry. Mazey, at this point, will not seek such a change.
University spokesman Dave Kielmeyer said that the board of trustees could act on its own “if it so chooses.”
David Jackson, president of the BGSU Faculty Association, said the Ohio Conference of the American Association of University Professors presented a resolution against expanding concealed carry, and the leadership of the BGSU union “voted in support of the resolution.”
Even if no change were made, the penalty for having a concealed weapon for permit holders is being reduced in most circumstances to a misdemeanor from a felony.
In a text message, Kielmeyer stated: “We’re still analyzing details of the law and the potential ramifications for our campus.”
State Senator Randy Gardner, R-Wood County, voted in favor of the bill as did State Rep. Theresa Gavarone, R-Bowling Green.
“I did not have a concern with university boards of trustees having the ability to make this decision,” Gardner said. He said over the more than a year this bill has been debated, he did not hear from any trustee or university president opposing it. The bill simply allows campuses to have the freedom to allow certain individuals, faculty, staff or retired law enforcement officers, for instance, to have concealed weapons on campus.
The same, he said, with day care centers. The law now allows owners of child care centers to have some people with concealed carry permits on the premises if they feel that would make their facility safer.
Gardner added that he does not expect any colleges or universities in the state to actually loosen their restrictions on concealed carry.
Asked about why no weapons are allowed in the Statehouse while restrictions are loosened elsewhere, Gardner said there is no need for anyone to carry a weapon in the Statehouse because it is heavily guarded by the Ohio state police and has metal detectors at all the entrances.
The issue of safety is the fault line between those who oppose increased concealed carry on campuses, and those who favor it. Faculty members have expressed concerns in various forums about the possibility of disgruntled students with weapons. The Ohio AAUP resolution contends more guns would make campuses more dangerous. Supporters of concealed carry say the presence of trained individuals with weapons would make campuses safer.
The open carry of weapons is allowed on campus, though they cannot be brought inside buildings.
