While Monday's massacre at Virginia Tech does not play into the years-long legal feud between the state and University of Utah over guns on campus, U. President Michael Young speculated that a barrage of verbal chatter over gun permit and gun control issues will follow Monday's shooting spree.

More guns or more gun restrictions — the debate is as inappropriate as it is unavoidable, said Young. "The important point, as has been amply demonstrated in Utah, is this can happen anywhere, anytime in the United States," he said, referring to the recent fatal shooting spree at Trolley Square.

The U. had a policy for more than a decade forbidding people with concealed-weapons permits from bringing guns on campus. The U. and the Utah Attorney General's Office engaged in a legal debate in 2002 over whether the school could legally have such a policy. Legal wrangling ended just a month ago with the U. settling for something much less at odds with state gun laws: students can now tell the U. whether they object to having a roommate who has a concealed-weapons permit.

The Virginia Tech shootings began in a dorm building, "but I'd be stunned if this person had a concealed-weapons permit," Young said of the Virginia shooter.

The university issued a statement Monday afternoon expressing "shock and sorrow at the senseless and horrific act of violence at Virginia Tech today" and extending condolences to the victims and their families.

"Our administration and security office will be closely monitoring the events to better understand what happened and to see if there are additional safety measures we need to take in our ongoing efforts to ensure a safe learning environment," the statement says.

Young said the U. has a good safety record and has not had a gun-related incident in its 150-year history. "I knock on wood when I say that," he said.

A shooting incident did occur in 1993 at Weber State University. Student Mark Duong, who was the focus of a grievance hearing on campus, took two guns to the hearing and shot and injured three people, one of them a Weber State police officer. The wounded officer returned fire and fatally injured the student.

Any violent threat at the U. would bring the full attention of university police and officers from Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County, Young said.

Spotting unstable individuals who might pose a threat is a primary objective to keeping the U. campus safe, Young said. Secondly, "You do everything you can to make sure your public safety officers are trained and respond as quickly as you can" to minimize a potential tragedy.

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