After concealed weapons allowed, crime dropped

Study: Colorado State University safer since 2003

CSU has been a safer place since late 2003, one CSU student found, when it decided to allow the university community to carry concealed weapons on campus –– a policy that could be holstered next Tuesday.

According to a report written by senior history major Brady Allen contesting the CSU System Board of Governors’ December decision to ban concealed weapons on campus, violent crime rates at CSU have declined since 2003. And although he could not prove a direct correlation between concealed carry and good campus safety, Allen said the decreasing crime rate speaks for itself.

“You can’t argue with it. The last six years have been the safest in CSU history and concealed carry is part of that,” Allen, who is not affiliated with any lobbyist or gun advocacy group, said.

The crime statistics analysis is just one part of Allen’s 12-page research document refuting the International

Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators’ position statement that the BOG used to justify its resolution ordering CSU President Tony Frank and CSU-Pueblo President Joe Garcia to draft weapons policies banning guns on campus by its next board meeting on Tuesday.

The order came after CSU’s Public Safety Team recommended the university ban weapons in the years following the deadly Virginia Tech and University of Northern Illinois shootings.

The policy mandate has been the subject of strife for gun advocates across the state, including Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden, who said he would not help enforce any weapons ban at CSU, and the Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, which said it will sue CSU if a ban goes into effect.

Concerned with the amount of what he called bad information on both sides of the argument, Allen said he set out to do his own research into the effects of concealed carry on college campuses. The endeavor ultimately led him to discover misinformation in the IACLEA’s position statement, he said.

“It’s so much easier if you stick to the facts, and right now, none that I was able to find support a public safety threat,” Allen said.

The IACLEA is a board comprised of officers and public safety officials from 15 colleges and universities. According to its Web site, it also represents about 1,200 educational institutions worldwide. In 2008, it released a position statement urging public policy makers to adopt policies banning concealed weapons on college campuses.

Allen forwarded his findings to the BOG earlier this month, but said it never replied. In a phone interview, the BOG’s chief spokesperson Michele McKinney said the board has not read Allen’s document.

I had no idea that you could carry at CSU.