From Deseret News archives:
Legislative attorneys to weigh in on U. gun ban
The Legislative Management Committee voted unanimously Tuesday to direct legislative attorneys to file a brief on two key legal issues in the case: the constitutional right to bear arms and the U.'s claim that it is autonomous from legislative control.
Although the committee is split along party lines over the issue of guns of college campuses, House Speaker Marty Stephens, R-Farr West, said he believes the brief will express the view of the majority of the GOP-dominated Legislature, when it passed a bill this year clarifying that the University of Utah must recognize gun laws passed by the Legislature.
The bill came in response to a 3rd District Court ruling last year that found the U. had a right to ban weapons on campus. The university and the state agreed to the "friendly" lawsuit over whether the U.'s 25-year-old internal policy prohibiting firearms on campus violates the state's concealed weapons law and firearms acts, which Attorney General Mark Shurtleff contends grant the Utah Legislature sole authority to enact gun laws.
Shurtleff's appeal focuses on a narrow issue arising out of 3rd District Judge Robert Hilder's ruling — that the U.'s policy does not invalidate concealed-weapons permits, it just does not allow the weapons themselves to be carried on campus.
Although Democratic committee members also voted to send the brief, they believe the issue will eventually be fought in federal court.
"My view is guns don't belong on campus," said Rep. Patricia Jones, D-Cottonwood Heights, who added she personally believes the U. should also have autonomy from the Legislature.
In arguments before the Utah Supreme Court last month, attorneys for the U. said under Utah's territorial law, the university was granted autonomy from the Legislature in an effort to craft policies to encourage academic freedom. U. attorney Alan Sullivan said allowing guns on campus would chill the atmosphere of academic freedom.
And granting the Legislature control of the university could also have far-reaching academic implications, he argued.
Deputy attorney general Brent Burnett argued that Utah's constitution does not grant the U. special autonomy from legislative control and that the U. should be treated like any state-funded agency and be subject to Utah law.
Legislative general counsel Gay Taylor told committee members Tuesday that her office had received a letter from the high court, which has yet to rule of the case, for the Legislature's take on the issues of the right to bear arms and academic autonomy.
Taylor told the committee that there was a 1956 case before the state Supreme Court that established that the U. was subject to the laws of the Legislature.
The Legislature's brief is expected to be filed in the coming weeks.
E-mail: gfattah@desnews.com
