By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
Bowling Green State University Faculty Senate passed a resolution Tuesday asking for a change in the way the university handles those who visit campus openly carrying weapons.
The resolution, proposed by William Albertini, of the English Department, asks for notification of the campus community of any armed visitors and more visible police monitoring of their activities.
The resolution stems from two related incidents in April involving individuals on campus with guns. The first on Sunday April 18, a Bowling Green man was seen carrying a hand gun as he walked in the area of the Carillon dining facility and Kohl residence hall. A witness reported he waved the weapon. Daniel Patrick Seymour was stopped by police and arrested for inducing panic. Seymour was in Bowling Green Municipal Court Wednesday for a preliminary hearing, and his case was continued.
President Rodney Rogers told the senate that the visit two days later by two other individuals was prompted by the earlier incident. They came to assert their Second Amendment rights.
Ohio is an open carry state, Rogers said, and that limits what the university can do.
Concealed carry of firearms is not allowed, nor is openly carrying a firearm allowed inside a building. Students and all employees, including outside contractors, are forbidden from carrying weapons. Visitors, however, can openly carry firearms on campus.
Rogers said the two individuals showed up on campus on April 20 often demonstrate in this manner. “A couple of our sister institutions,” he said, “have these two gentlemen come to their campus on a very regular basis.” These are in the southern part of the state.
The administration must balance its response between informing the community with the concern that it not provide the activists what they want – “headlines.”
Their visit, however, was widely covered in the media.
He reiterated his sentiment that the administration erred in not letting the university community know firearms-bearing individuals were on campus and by not monitoring their actions in a more visible way.
Albertini said his resolution was prompted by a colleague whose daughter attends the university. The student saw the individuals with guns but “no visible security presence.”
Similar reactions flooded social media on that day.
The resolution states the incident “generated fear and worry among students, faculty, staff, and parents.”
The changes would be added to the university’s frequently asked questions page related to guns on campus. They are similar to language used at Miami University and Wright State University.
The change would “require that the university community be alerted to the presence of lawful open carry of firearms as soon as information about such an event is known.”
It would also require that police not only monitor those openly carrying but be visible and available to answer questions about the situation.
The resolution passed overwhelmingly, with 45 in favor, three against, and one abstention.
Rogers also said he has been talking with state legislators about having a “carve out” in the open carry legislation that would allow public university campuses to ban open carry. The law already allows such exceptions for K-12 schools, places that serve liquor, and courtrooms.
