Saturday, February 16, 2008

No Guns For You

I see from the Rapid City Journal that the Senate has once again voted against a full debate on the campus gun bill. Can someone please explain to me why, if cities and counties by law are not allowed to pass ordinances restricting the possession of firearms, is the Board of Regents allowed to do so through administrative policy? To me there is a huge constitutional question that is being ignored here. The State, through the BOR, is taking direct action to infringe on a constitutionally protected right. I know of nowhere that the Constitution or the Legislature has given the BOR this authority. Could someone please point out to me where this authority comes from, because I'm apparently missing it? Freshmen and sophomores in college are required to live on campus except under special circumstances. This is not a situation where these young adults are choosing to live on campus and therefore choosing to give up their constitutional right. They are forced to live on campus and thereby forced to give up that right. If the Regents want to do this at least they should do it the right way; get the Legislature to add post secondary campuses to the statutory list that is already law.

No comments: