Quincy College?s governing board will consider a policy that would ban everyone other than police officers from carrying a gun on campus, regardless of whether they have a permit.
College President Peter Tsaffaras said the policy was drafted as part of a safety and security review, and that it would give the college grounds to remove someone with a gun from the campus.
?We receive anecdotal evidence sometimes that we have students who are coming to school armed,? Tsaffaras said. ?They?re not hostile and threatening, but they?re armed nonetheless. And we want to have a policy in place to deal with it.?
The policy was unanimously approved Tuesday night by the governing board?s personnel and programs committee. The full board of governors will vote on it next month, by which time language covering other concealed weapons like knives and Mace may be incorporated.
Tsaffaras said the the college will hire a campus safety and security consultant who will advise the board as it considers the policy.
The draft policy approved Tuesday states that no person ?shall have on their person or in their possession a firearm, loaded or unloaded, operable or inoperable, while on any property, including but not limited to, buildings and parking areas, occupied or used by Quincy College.?
Violators will be subject to the college?s ?persona non grata policy,? which allows the president to immediately suspend a student or employee. It also prohibits them from returning without permission. The sanction can be appealed to a hearing board.
The proposed gun ban would not apply to law enforcement personnel on the Quincy College grounds. The college?s security guards do not carry guns.
Board member Joseph Shea, who is also the longtime city clerk, said such policies can be objectionable to staunch defenders of the constitutional right to bear arms.
?You?d be surprised at who carries guns,? Shea said. ?Some people are very aware and very sharp about it, and their reasoning (for carrying). It came up (in Quincy) with employees other than policeman carrying guns. They had laborers carrying guns, people who worked the night shift carrying guns. They had a license to carry them.?
Committee member Barbara Clarke said she was concerned about setting a policy that ?may be legally indefensible or cause us grief over time.? She also called for guidelines that instruct faculty members about how to approach a student who is carrying a weapon.
Tsaffaras, an attorney, said the policy has been reviewed by four lawyers and is ?perfectly reasonable? and defensible.
Committee member Maureen Glynn Carroll said the extension of the campus gun ban to other dangerous weapons should be studied carefully.
?I wouldn?t want to limit someone?s ability to protect themselves walking to the train station with pepper spray or something,? she said. ?There?s got to be some kind of balance.?
As it stands, Tsaffaras said, the college doesn?t have grounds to stand on if it wants to remove from campus someone carrying a gun.
?We could get them out of the classroom, we could talk to them,? he said, but the response might be: ??I have an absolute right; I?m licensed to carry. Where?s the policy that says I?m not (allowed)???
If students are ?sitting in a classroom (where someone is) carrying a handgun in their waistband,? it has ?a chilling effect,? Tsaffaras said.
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Jack Encarnacao may be reached at jencarnacao@ledger.com.
Source: http://www.wickedlocal.com/quincy/news/x1282427707/Quincy-College-considers-gun-ban
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