Broader ban

The University of Virginia may consider toughening its concealed weapons restrictions after a July 1 opinion from Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli stated the university couldn't legally prohibit people from carrying concealed weapons on campus.

According to Carolyn Wood, a spokeswoman for UVA, the university is reviewing the attorney general's opinion. She noted that Virginia law allows the university to strengthen their policy by making it a regulation-- something that Cuccinelli said would give it "force of law."

"We need to understand the full impact that this opinion could have on our community before making any decisions," read Wood's statement.

Cuccinelli's opinion stated that the university could prohibit people from openly carrying a firearm in school buildings. However, state law allows concealed carry permit holders to carry concealed handguns wherever they are not "otherwise prohibited by law." And because the university's rules are a policy, not a regulation, Cuccinelli said they aren't legally binding.

The attorney general cited a recent case in the Virginia Supreme Court where a similar George Mason University gun ban was upheld. But GMU's gun ban was a regulation, not a policy, and it was far more "tailored" than UVA's ban.

"The universal prohibition of firearms by properly permitted persons other than students, faculty, administration, or employees... is not allowed under the law," Cuccinelli wrote. "Nevertheless, a university may impose certain regulations or prohibitions concerning firearms to ensure -- in its view-- the safe operation of the campus."

"The safety and security of our more than 20,000 students and 10,000 employees -- in addition to the safety of the more than 10,000 patients and visitors who come to the University each day -- are of utmost importance to us," Wood stated. "Any steps we consider in our review of the opinion will certainly take that responsibility into account."

Cuccinelli said he expressed "no opinion about [the] wisdom" of campus gun bans, stating his role as attorney general is simply to "assess the lawfulness of these policies in light of the law as it presently exists in Virginia."

However, he wrote, "It certainly can be argued that such policies are ineffectual because persons who wish to perpetrate violence will ignore them, and that the net effect of such policies is to leave defenseless the law-abiding citizens who follow these policies."

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