Gun-free resolution passes SGA

After months of deliberation and differing opinions, GCSU appears to be headed for a gun-free campus. A resolution passed Student Government Association voting last week that would essentially declare campus to be a gun-free zone. Sophomore Sen. Jay Parker wrote the resolution and said he is proud of the steps the school is taking.

“As Georgia’s public liberal arts university, we wanted to be the one to take that first step toward declaring our campus gun-free,” Parker said. “Hopefully the other (University System of Georgia) schools will follow suit.”

While other University System schools have been involved in discussions regarding guns on their campuses, it was Parker and GCSU that stepped up to the plate first. After Senate Bill 308 passed on March 24, giving the power to the state Board of Regents of the University System to regulate gun possession on any of their properties, Parker spoke with GCSU students and faculty members, as well as representatives from other University System schools to hear opinions on the subject before piecing together the resolution.

SGA President Zach Mullins is in charge of preparing and sending the finalized resolution to Chancellor Errol B. Davis, essentially asking him to ensure that GCSU is one of the properties declared gun-free.

“I will draft the letter and send it to the Chancellor in the next few days,” Mullins said Wednesday. “Once that’s done, we will wait for confirmation that they have received it, and then after that, it’s really on the board’s timeline.”

The letter will include a statement from SGA to the Chancellor to “make the necessary provisions … to set forth regulations which shall outline (GCSU), all properties pertaining thereto, and all events and/or activities sanctioned by (GCSU) as school safety zones, on which the carrying of firearms shall not be allowed and shall furthermore be deemed intolerable and unlawful as to the rules and regulations set forth by the Office of the Chancellor himself.”

Parker explained the process as “hurrying up to wait,” not expecting a rapid response once the letter is sent, largely due to the fact that the Georgia House of Representatives is still in discussion/deliberation over its substitution to Senate Bill 308.

“The Board is waiting to see what the House does, just to make sure everything follows through, and then they will have their own discussion process,” Parker said.

The resolution references a “significant number of GCSU students, faculty, and staff” who have expressed “serious concern in regard to their levels of safety, comfort, and well-being” in allowing firearms to be legally carried on campus.

It also mentions international students who have shown concern over their educational environment, and a statement from the Women’s Resource Center that “given the nature of the cases that it has seen and dealt with over the years, the carrying of concealed firearms on campus is something which their office vehemently opposes on the basis of past cases involving threats made against women.”

Mullins views the issue from a safety standpoint, first and foremost, he said.

“This resolution maintains status quo,” he said, “and keeps student safety as the number one priority.”

Posted by Preston Sellers on Apr 23 2010. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry