As a result of the actions taken during the meeting of Longwood's Board of Visitors (BOV) in December 2011, a new law has been put into place regarding concealed weapons and how the policy will be handled.
The decision, however, was not made overnight. "The Board of Visitors is mandated to approve all policies or regulations," said Jeanne Hayden, executive assistant to the BOV. "It's the responsibility of the university to make sure that we are in step with trends and/or recommendations from Richmond. Once the on-campus process is complete, it is then taken to the Board of Visitors, whether it's a new policy or one that needs to be rewritten … it goes on the Board of Visitors agenda, but it's a recommendation from the administration."
Hayden said that often times, the BOV will be given the rationale or the background for policy changes, whether it's keeping up with the current trends or what may be mandated by the state.
Hayden said she prepares the materials for the meeting so the BOV receives them ahead of the meeting, giving them "time to review, study or write questions." Then when the meeting begins, whomever the policy jurisdiction falls under will stand up and discuss with the reasons why they feel that the changes or new policies are necessary with the BOV.
The current weapons policy states that if a student wishes to bring a weapon on campus for a recreational event such as hunting, he or she must make an appointment with the Longwood University Police Department (LUPD). Once the appointment has been made, the student must bring the weapon to LUPD, where it will be stored.
Should the student wish to use the weapon for the said event, they can notify LUPD that they wish to pick it up. Once students pick the weapon up, they must leave the campus immediately.
However, the new policy states that anyone visiting the campus who has a permit to carry firearms and is carrying a concealed firearm may not be allowed to enter any academic buildings or attend any events while they are in possession of said firearm.
LUPD Chief of Police Bob Beach was able to provide some history on how the law came into place. "Over the past year, there has been a lot of discussion about the Second Amendment and the state's response to the Second Amendment.
Virginia's always been a strong Second Amendment approval state in allowing people to openly carry firearms."
Beach went on to explain how most universities have had policies that prohibit firearms on campus except law enforcement. "One of the Second Amendment additives organizations in the commonwealth challenged that in the course at George Mason University."
The Virginia Supreme Court came back with a decision that stated that the universities could, in fact, have policies and regulations to control handguns on campus.
Virginia's Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli gave his opinion that the decision made by the Virginia Supreme Court was that they could control the access to buildings and certain events on campus, but the Second Amendment would still allow the right for a person to carry a concealed weapon.
Beach said he was satisfied with what happened, and does not see any problems with how it was handled. "The regulation itself, we followed it to the letter; the same wording that the Supreme Court has already said is appropriate, so I don't see any issues in this
