Hundreds of signatures were collected in a petition at the University of Kansas in protest of a new campus carry policy that goes into effect next year.
As of July 1, 2017, Kansas will no longer exempt universities from constitutional carry laws due to the Kansas Personal and Family Protection Act. This means that gun-free zones must put new rules in place for weapons on campus that don’t undermine the existing statute.
Kansas is one of several states that permits concealed weapons on campus, but those rights are restricted on who and where that right can be exercised.
Earlier this month, Kansas University submitted a new draft policy to the state Board of Regents concerning their new concealed carry weapons guidelines, including making people carrying a concealed handgun in a building put their firearm in their holster with the safety on.
The policy will be discussed in November by the State Board of Regents.
Several students and professors of the university told KMBC News that because of the new policy, they are thinking about transferring.
“I’ve actually been looking at different schools and I know a lot of students have been,” said university student Abigail Samuelson.
Paul Schumaker, a professor at the school of 45 years said that he will be retiring early because of the new policy.
“I am 99 percent sure that I would not come back,” he said. “I really don’t want my career to end by policing guns in the classroom.”
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