Handgun: Stubbs argues policy violates 14th Amendment
Continued from page 1
Community College that qualifies stu
dents to apply for a CHL — said there
is a two-to-one ratio of men to women
interested in concealed carry.
The concealed carry suit
The issue of concealed weapons on
OUS property gained attention in
March 2004 when conservative talk ra
dio host Lars Larson refused to speak
at a First Amendment forum at South
ern Oregon University after learning he
could not bring his concealed weapon
under OUS rules. SOU eventually re
scinded Larson’s invitation.
The OUS policy made news again in
January 2004 after Stubbs, a graduate
teaching fellow who had obtained his
CHL, sued the members of the higher
education board in federal court.
Stubbs alleged that the OUS policy vio
lated state laws allowing CHL holders
to carry firearms in public buildings.
The suit named members of the
board because they set the policies that
are enforced by the OUS. The suit also
named then-OUS Chancellor Richard
Jarvis and University President Dave
Frohnmayer as defendants because
they were responsible for implement
ing the weapons policy.
Before filing the lawsuit, Stubbs
asked OUS administration whether
it would enforce its policy if he car
ried his weapon on University prop
erty, according to court papers. In
response, Stubbs received a letter
indicating that administrators
would enforce the policy, which in
cludes academic sanctions, if he at
tempted to carry his firearm on
University grounds.
After receiving the letter, Stubbs
complied with the policy by not carry
ing his concealed weapon, according
to the papers.
In the suit, Stubbs argued the OUS
policy violated state statutes and he
was deprived “due process” rights
Tim Bobosky | Photographer
The Baron’s Den instructor Raye Gunter displays two of the most popular guns for people
to carry concealed: a Glock .40-caliber pistol and a Smith & Wesson Airweight .38 Special.
graniea Dy me i4tn Amendment.
Stubbs said his case related to an
important issue concerning the rights
of citizens, according to a Jan. 23,2004
article in the Emerald.
“It is important that the board and
university system respect the limitation
of their powers and cease infringing on
the rights of students, faculty and
staff,” Stubbs said in the article. “This
lawsuit is about restoring rights to citi
zens and making the board of higher
education and the Oregon University
System obey the law. ”
The members of the board, repre
sented by Oregon Attorney General
Hardy Myers, moved to dismiss the
case, arguing Stubbs’ case lacked
standing because the policy had not
actually been enforced. The defen
dants also disputed the court’s jurisdic
tion over Stubbs’ due process claims.
OUS spokeswoman Di Saunders de
fended the decision to ban handguns
on campuses, citing safety concerns,
according to the Jan. 23 article.
“Student safety on OUS campuses is
our first and foremost concern,” she
said in the article. “That is why the
state board went beyond the Oregon
statute and voted to not allow hand
guns on Oregon public campuses. ”
u.b. District Juage Ann Aiken
agreed with the defense and dismissed
the case on procedural grounds, saying
Stubbs failed to present an adequate
“case or controversy” because the poli
cy had not been enforced.
Yet Aiken noted that the outcome of
the case didn’t determine the legality
of the OUS policy on CHL holders.
“Defendants concede that interpre
tation of the state’s firearm preemp
tion (sic) statute is ‘inevitable,’” she
said in the ruling. “However, because
there is no federal case or controver
sy, this question must be addressed
in a different forum.”
LCC revises its policy
Most recently, the LCC Board of Ed
ucation revised its policy on concealed
firearms in November to comply with
its interpretation of state law. The new
policy allows CHL holders to carry
their guns on college-owned property
or at LCC-sponsored events.
The revision adds an exception to
the college’s ban on firearms and other
weapons as provided by Oregon or
federal law. Under the exception, CHL
holders can carry their weapons “if
that is their interpretation of the (Ore
gon) law,” Director of Health and
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Although the rule change allows
CHL holders to carry, Vice President
for College Operations Marie Matsen
said LCC officials will “strongly
discourage people from carrying.”
Matsen said LCC administrators are
still working on the implementation of
the policy, which might require that
people who have a CHL and want to
carry on campus notify LCC officials.
Matsen said the policy was changed
because LCC’s legal counsel advised
the board that its policy “really wasn’t
consistent with the ORS.”
“What our legal counsel told us
was actually anyone who has a valid
concealed weapons permit, we can’t
prohibit them from carrying on cam
pus,” she said.
Because it’s not part of the OUS,
LCC is governed by different rules
than the University.
Ing-Weise said the board had to con
sider two differing views on concealed
weapons and seek a compromise.
“Basically, you come down to two
kinds of people with philosophical be
liefs,” she said. “One is that protection
of the group is worth the infringement
on the right (to carry concealed). The
other is that the protection of the
group is not significant enough to jus
tify infringing on the right. ”
Ing-Weise said there haven’t been
problems at LCC with concealed
handguns since the revision, but said
the old policy7 provided support for ad
ministrators to talk to a student sus
pected of carrying a concealed
weapon if another student felt threat
ened by that weapon. Now they can’t.
Ing-Weise said some administrative
rules have been drafted about certain
circumstances under which people
can’t carry concealed weapons at
LCC, although the rules have not re
turned from review by legal counsel.
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