Concealed carry clarification

Liberty University Police Department discusses rules about firearms on campus

Liberty University Police Department (LUPD) will offer its next concealed carry class for students Friday, Feb. 26 from 5:45-10 p.m., according to LUPD Chief of Police Col. Richard D. Hinkley.

“The class teaches basic safety principles for handling any type of firearm and the basic principles needed to shoot accurately,” Hinkley said. “To complete the class and receive a completion certificate, all participants are required to go to the range and demonstrate the ability to safely handle and fire a firearm.”

Contrary to popular belief, there have been no changes to the university’s firearms policy, according to the Office of Legal Affairs General Counsel David Corry. Firearms are still not allowed in the residence halls, with the exception of law enforcement and Resident Directors who have a concealed carry permit.

Corry, who had a hand in drafting potential changes to the policy, said it is the Board of Trustee’s responsibility to approve or disapprove changes to the policy. Changes in the policy will be presented at the Board’s next regular meeting, which will take place April 15.

“We’re contemplating a system that will allow students in the residence halls who are approved to conceal carry to store weapons in a safe in their room, which would be provided and installed by LU,” Corry said. “They would be secured to a wall, kind of like a hotel safe, and we’re looking at the kind of safe to use to ensure that only the person with the permit can open the safe. We’re considering biometric access.”

However, Corry said Liberty will take the necessary steps toward ensuring every student is comfortable in the residence halls. He added that a student will not be forced to live in a room where a weapon is stored if he or she is not comfortable with it. A student wishing to store his or her weapon in the dorm room will have to acquire consent from his or her roommate(s).

“There will be a system of consent,” Corry said. “You’ll have to get consent from your current roommate or find someone who is willing to move. … If you’ve given consent to have a weapon in your room and you then want to withdraw that consent — you’ve changed your mind — then you will be the one who has to find a different place (to live).”

According to Corry, additional rules will be added, stating that students must either store their concealed carry on their person or in the safe at all times. A weapon will not be allowed to be on display or passed around. Only the person with the concealed carry permit is allowed to handle the weapon.

“If you’re not wearing enough clothes for it to be concealed, then it needs to be in a safe,” Corry said. “We don’t want people to be confronted by the presence of weapons on display. That’s not what concealed carry is all about. Concealed carry is out of sight.”

Corry said he and the others involved with drafting the policies have used their experience and the experience of other universities to guide them in coming up with a system to recommend to the Trustees.

“We think we’ve come up with solutions that will work,” Corry said. “The impact on the dorms will not be as great as some might imagine because you can’t get a concealed carry permit unless you’re 21.

That’s the same age that many people move out of the dorms, so it’s a very small percentage of the 21 and up population that even take advantage of the opportunity.”

To sign up for the next concealed carry class, students must email lupdrange@liberty.edu. To view the current full university gun policy, visit liberty.edu/administration/lupd.

Ritter is a news reporter.