Liberty University to stay gun free, trustees decide

Liberty University police officers will remain the only people allowed to carry firearms on campus, but that could change in the future, LU’s board of trustees decided Tuesday.

Board members, at Liberty for a regularly scheduled meeting, decided to continue to not allow people with concealed handgun permits to carry weapons on campus.

Chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr. had brought the matter before the board after members of Liberty’s chapter of Students for Concealed Carry on Campus requested a change in policy.

“The feeling was that, unlike most private property owners, we have our own police force,” Falwell said after the meeting. “So the decision was made, since crime has not really been a problem at LU, not to make any changes to the policy at this time.

“The board did express a willingness to look at, especially faculty and staff being allowed to carry concealed weapons in the future, should they determine that it was needed for enhanced security.”

Currently, the university does not allow those with concealed weapons permits to carry a gun on campus.

Prior to the meeting Tuesday, Clint Armstrong, a Liberty student and campus leader for the school’s chapter of SCCC, delivered a formal petition to Falwell with 597 signatures from students, parents and alumni in support of allowing concealed carry on campus.

The local student group has about 700 members, while the organization boasts more than 37,000 members nationally, according to the official Web site.

After the board’s decision, Armstrong said the group remains convinced that allowing permitted concealed carry “is the best decision to keep the campus safe.”

“Criminals are there to commit some other heinous crime,” he said. “They aren’t concerned about breaking a university law that doesn’t allow concealed carry.”

Falwell said the board considered both that perspective and opinions from other students and faculty.

“We’ve received a lot of feedback, and I’d say the majority of the community probably does not support (concealed carry on campus),” Falwell said. “The ones who do support it are very, very committed. And the ones who are against it feel just as strongly.”

He said those against allowing concealed carry “probably outnumber those who do two-to-one.”

“Some of the faculty had commented that they couldn’t imagine anything worse than students packing heat while they were handing out grades,” Falwell said.

He said that most board members also came to the meeting Tuesday with an opinion.

“I’ve never seen the board so engaged in discussing any other issue,” he said.

“The biggest concern was, I think, 21-year-old permit holders. If they live in the dorm, they (would) still have to keep the gun in the dorm, and the chances of it falling into the wrong hands was a concern of the board members.”

The board of trustees has 38 members, but “we didn’t have that many today because of the weather,” Falwell said. The board includes Falwell and his brother Jonathan, pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church.

Although board members did not take an official vote, Falwell said, they did reach a consensus to continue the current policy.

Neal Askew, a member of the executive committee of the board of trustees, supported that decision when reached for comment Tuesday evening.

“My background is law enforcement with the Houston police department for many years,” he said. “I personally feel like it has to be controlled, and the right people trained (to carry firearms),” he said.

“At this point in time, we feel very comfortable with our police department,” he said.

Utah is the only state that does not allow any of its nine public universities to restrict people from carrying concealed weapons on campus.

Currently, Texas lawmakers also are considering allowing people with handgun permits to carry firearms on college campuses.