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West Liberty planning ban on guns

WEST LIBERTY — Anyone heading to the West Liberty University campus will likely soon need to leave their firearms behind, whether they’re concealed carry handguns or rifles hanging on pickup truck gun racks.

Citing both the West Virginia Legislature’s adoption of House Bill 4145 earlier this year — which allows anyone 21 or older to carry a concealed handgun without a permit — and a string of deadly mass shootings across the U.S. during the last few years, the university’s Board of Governors voted unanimously Wednesday to enter a 30-day comment period for the planned new policy.

After accepting comments from faculty, staff members and students, board members plan to consider adoption of the policy during their next regular meeting, which is set for 4 p.m. Oct. 5 in Shaw Hall.

University President Stephen Greiner said the West Liberty policy would not only apply to concealed carry handguns, but to any gun that could be seen inside a private vehicle parked on campus. This could include a handgun on a seat, or a shotgun in a gun rack.

Greiner also said the regulation applies to any deadly weapon, rather than just firearms.

“You have to look at some of the unfortunate things that have happened around the country,” Greiner said after the meeting. “We want our students to feel safe, secure and comfortable. I don’t know how comfortable someone would feel knowing that someone on campus is carrying a dangerous weapon. …

“There would be some discretion there. We would not look at a pocket knife the same as we would a machete,” Greiner added.

Board members James Stultz and Richard Carter agree with the policy plan.

“We blanketed the whole campus with this policy,” Carter said, adding the regulation applies to everyone, whether they are students, faculty members or visitors.

“That open carry law drove this,” Stultz said of HB 4145. “And we need to have something in place that puts us into compliance with other universities.”

Information from West Virginia University, Marshall University and Fairmont State University indicate those institutions already have similar rules in place, with WVU adopting its policy in 1998.

Those who would be exempt from the regulation include police officers, West Virginia Division of Corrections employees, active duty armed services members, judges, prosecutors, and those who are authorized to carry weapons for academic research.

Also, the university’s chief of police would have the discretion to grant special exemptions from the rule for the “convenience of the university in achieving its mission.”

“There would be very few,” Stultz said of these exemptions.

The original policy language called for the university president to have the authority to grant the special exemptions, but board members voted to change this to give the power to the police chief.

“That way, a professional law enforcement official can make the decision,” Stultz said. “It wouldn’t be fair to ask the president to make those decisions.”

There was concern the university’s policy may violate the concealed carry law. However, a letter from West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission Chancellor Paul Hill states his office believes universities are “still able to prohibit firearms and other deadly weapons on their campuses.”

In another matter, board Chairman George Couch resigned during the Wednesday meeting after serving as chairman for more than three years. He accepted a position to work in a health care administration program at Gannon University in Erie, Pa.

Vice Chairman Les DeFelice will lead the board until officials name a successor to Couch.

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