The University of Arkansas System board of trustees again unanimously approved a resolution prohibiting faculty and staff members from carrying concealed weapons onto any UA campus.
The vote Friday at the trustees meeting in Fort Smith marked the second time the board has opted out of a newstate law that otherwise allows concealed carry by licensed faculty and staff members on college campuses.
The law, passed last year, allowed a way for colleges to exempt themselves from the requirement. Such a policy must be readopted yearly, or a resolution prohibiting guns will expire for public colleges. Private schools do not havethe same requirement to readopt a concealed-handgun policy every year.
UA System President Donald Bobbitt told trustees he discussed the issue with chancellors from individual campuses.
“There was unanimous agreement that the board should not allow concealed handguns on any of our campuses,” Bobbitt said. Before last year, state law generally outlawed handguns on any higher-education campus.
The UA system includes six universities and five twoyear colleges. The Arkansas State University system, governed separately from the UA system, opted out of the state law in May.
- Jaime Adame
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 11 on 03/22/2014