Legislation: Deal on guns is drawn up

"Lawmakers and higher-education officials appear to have agreed on a bill that would enable universities to regulate guns in student dormitories and faculty and staff offices and put an end to a protracted legal battle over guns on campus.

Sen. Gregory Bell, R-Fruit Heights, on Thursday confirmed he will sponsor SB251, which was not yet available to the public.
But University of Utah President Michael Young has seen it and characterized it as "the best option available to us."
If the bill passes, the U., which has led the fight for gun restrictions on campuses, will drop its federal lawsuit against the state, he said.
"Our satisfaction level is sufficient to not pursue'' federal remedies, Young said. "I don't think it's optimal for state agencies to solve our differences through litigation."

Most universities had policies banning guns before a 2004 Utah law allowed those holding concealed weapons permits to carry guns on campuses and in other previously protected areas. The U. sued over the law and eventually lost in the Utah Supreme Court last fall.

The legislation does face challenges.
"I'm not comfortable with it yet," Rep. Curtis Oda, R-Clearfield, said after glancing through a draft Thursday.

Clark Aposhian, chairman of Utah's Department of Public Safety Concealed Carry Review Board, disagrees with the bill's entire premise.

"Until any entity including universities can show me an actual problem and then show me how banning firearms would solve that problem, I'm not inclined to support any type of a ban," he said."

And a voice of sanity cries out in the wilderness. Manufacturing a problem to then address an answer is par for the course with regards to universities, and it is good to see that someone wants to know WHY.

Plain and simple, the university president doesn't like those smelly, ugly old guns, and despite the fact that are not presenting any problems whatsoever, he wants them out of his castle, and pronto. It's his little kingdom, and whats the point of being king if any serf can do as he or she pleases."Regulating" means banning. The guns are already regulated as they are in the possession of licensed firearm owners, but that isn't enough.

Dreadful creatures.