Concealed weapons should be allowed on college campuses and other public gatherings, a lawmaker told a House committee on Friday, while opponents to a bill that would loosen gun restrictions say it could have violent, unintended consequences.
North Dakota bars bringing permitted concealed weapons to public gatherings and places such as universities, but a measure introduced by Rep. Duane DeKrey, R-Pettibone, would change that. The bill would still prohibit concealed weapons on K-12 campuses.
"We always have people that seem to be mentally ill or have other problems," said DeKrey, adding he introduced the measure in light of the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre that left 32 people dead. "But they're never mentally ill enough that they don't know where the people are that can't be armed."
Bill Goetz, chancellor of the North Dakota University System, testified against the bill, saying college campuses ban concealed weapons because of safety concerns.
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"College campuses in this state, without guns, except those in the hands of trained law enforcement officers, now have less violent crime than almost any other place in the country," Goetz said. "Let's keep it that way."
Thomas Nicolai, a Cooperstown chiropractor who urged lawmakers to introduce the bill, told the House Government and Veteran Affairs Committee that loosening concealed weapon restrictions would not result in more violence, but give people a chance to defend themselves in an unforeseeable and potentially deadly situation.
"When a college president in North Dakota feels the need for a bodyguard, I'm beginning to wonder if I should be more concerned," Nicolai said. "After all, I don't get to carry a police officer with me everywhere I go."
Rep. Mike Nathe, R-Bismarck, questioned Goetz on why it was OK for a university president to have an armed bodyguard while others on a college campus can't carry a weapon.
"Why does one person get the opportunity and right to do it and somebody else doesn't?" Nathe asked.
Goetz said students are protected by the same people who accompany NDSU President Joseph Chapman: campus police.
"I think there is a big difference," Goetz said. "Again, you'd be giving the right to students who are not trained, and that security on that campus is there for everyone."
Gregory Plautz, the president of Students for Concealed Carry on Campus at the University of North Dakota, said many students already have concealed weapon permits and that they act no differently if they're on or off campus.
"It is not a bill for college students," Plautz said. "It is a bill written for adults."
Ron Storhaug, a student at North Dakota State University, said he's been around firearms all his life, but would feel unsafe knowing students can carry weapons around campus.
"To me, it seems simple," Storhaug said. "Guns have their place in North Dakota, and this place does not include university residence halls and classroom buildings."
Jim Thoreson, chief deputy with the Cass County Sheriff's Department, said the bill reminded him of the debate from the 1970s over arming North Dakota university police officers.
There are 10,390 active concealed weapon permits in North Dakota, according to the attorney general's office.
The bill is HB1348.
(Reach reporter Brian Duggan at 223-8482 or brian.duggan@;bismarcktribune.com. Follow his coverage of the North Dakota Legislature on Twitter at www.twitter.com/nodakcentral.)
