U. acts responsibly on guns policy

In two recent columns, Lee Benson has attacked the University of Utah's gun policy. He claims that the U. has acted illegally by adhering to the policy in the face of a new statute enacted by the Legislature. I believe, however, that the U. has acted not only legally, but responsibly, and I would like to explain why.

The U. has important obligations to students, faculty and the public; its central mission is to foster a safe and open environment for teaching, learning and debate. Under U.S. Supreme Court cases going back decades, it has a constitutional right of academic freedom to maintain an environment suitable for learning — free of interference by the state. In enforcing its gun policy, the U. believes that it exercises an important First Amendment right, and it has submitted its disagreements with the state attorney general to the courts for decision. Like other institutions, the U. has the right to disagree with the attorney general, and it has the right to conform its conduct to its most important obligations.

The context of this dispute, which Benson's columns ignore, is crucial.

The U. has prohibited students, faculty and staff from carrying firearms on campus for about 30 years. It has done so because firearms on campus lead to accidents, injuries and worse. The presence of weapons on campus — particularly concealed weapons — chills the vigorous debate at the heart of the academic enterprise.

This has been the view of every U. administration since the 1970s. It is, moreover, the policy of every major university in the United States. In proceedings before the federal court, the U.'s proof was uncontradicted: Guns on campus undermine the most important values for which universities — including the U. — were created in the first place.

So, two and a half years ago, when Attorney General Mark Shurtleff announced his position that the U.'s gun policy violated Utah law, the U. and then-President Machen presented the dispute to the federal court seeking a declaration that the attorney general's position violated the U.'s right to academic freedom under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article X of the Utah Constitution. The U.'s suit was supported by affidavits from the presidents of Weber State University, Utah State University, Brigham Young University, among others.