Beginning today, concealed firearms will be allowed in locked vehicles at the University of Arizona and other public colleges.
Visible weapons will still be violations of campus conduct rules, and those who keep firearms in their vehicles still are required to have concealed-carry permits.
Campus firearm rules are changing to comply with a state law that takes effect today. The law prevents employers from prohibiting guns in locked vehicles in parking areas. It was signed by Gov. Jan. Brewer in mid-July.
Members of the Arizona Board of Regents reluctantly changed their no-weapons policy.
"I can't help myself but say I can't believe we are going to adopt this policy," Regent Dennis DeConcini of Tucson said at the regents meeting on Friday in Flagstaff.
The law is contrary to previous board policy, which prohibited "use, possession, display or storage of any weapon" on university property. The new policy includes an exception for concealed firearms in locked vehicles.
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Ross Meyer, a regent and ASU student, voted no on the policy change, saying it is unsafe to allow guns on campus. Other regents voted yes on the policy change but expressed reservations. Regent Fred DuVal of Phoenix called the law change "dangerous and foolish."
The UA Faculty Senate recently passed a resolution opposing the change in law. The Student Senate is considering a similar measure.
Time will tell whether the policy affects weapons-violation statistics at the UA.
For 2008 and 2007, there were nine arrests and 13 reported weapons violations each year, according to University of Arizona Police Department crime statistics. Statistics for 2009 were not immediately available.
Most violations are the result of traffic stops, said Sgt. Juan Alvarez, a UAPD spokesman. Police don't see people coming onto campus with weapons, he added.
The most recent campus shooting happened in 2006, when a student was injured in a drive-by shooting.
In 2002, Robert S. Flores Jr. brought five handguns to campus, shot and killed three professors, then shot and killed himself.
University of Arizona weapons violations
Year Arrests reported violations
2008 9 13
2007 9 13
2006 4 4
2005 5 6
Source: University of Arizona Police Department
