Colleges fight attempts to allow weapons


Arizona college officials are trying to ward off an attempt by state lawmakers to let some teachers carry concealed weapons onto their campuses, reports the Arizona Daily Sun. And a random sampling of opinions at Northern Arizona University showed that some students aren’t too keen on the idea, either. State Sen. Jack Harper, R-Surprise, who crafted S.B. 1011, said he believes an armed teacher would be the first line of defense for students and others. Harper said just removing the prohibition on guns on campuses would itself be a deterrent to someone considering shooting up a classroom. Harper appears to have the support of a majority of the members of the Senate Committee on Public Safety and Human Services. But Sen. Linda Gray, R-Glendale, who chairs the panel, postponed a vote on the bill for a week to get legal clarification of a few matters, including what defines a “faculty member” who would be permitted to be armed. In the meantime, representatives of Arizona public colleges and universities urged lawmakers to reconsider. Anthony Dalkin, police chief of the University of Arizona, said there’s a vast difference between allowing a trained law-enforcement officer to have a gun in a classroom and allowing anyone with a permit…

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