Posted: Thursday, February 12, 2009 12:00 am
At Western Oregon University in Monmouth, a student and Marine Corps veteran got into trouble in a case that deserves the legislature's attention.
Jeffrey L. Maxwell, 30, of Lebanon, a junior, has an Oregon license to carry a concealed handgun. A couple of weeks ago, he was arrested on campus because he was armed. The Polk County district attorney declined to prosecute. But bloggers report that a college tribunal - in a closed session in which testimony by a Linn County deputy about Oregon law was declared irrelevant - expelled him from school, required him to write a paper on following the law, and demanded he submit to a psychological evaluation. The college says it cannot confirm this because of privacy laws.
In the legislature, House Republican Leader Bruce Hanna of Roseburg and Rep. Kim Thatcher, R-Keizer, have pointed out that state law exempts holders of concealed-carry licenses from a law against having guns on campuses.
The Oregon University System has rules against weapons on campus, and the question is whether those violate a state statute which says the legislature alone has the right to regulate firearm possession by license holders.
At Virginia Tech and elsewhere, rules like the ones enforced by the university system have not prevented gun violence but left people on campus more vulnerable to mass murderers.
That's one issue. The other issue raised by this case is whether campus disciplinary panels, where laws and people's rights fly out the window, should be able to deny a person, especially a veteran of the armed forces, the right to pursue an education at a public school if he has not broken any laws.
Representatives Hanna and Thatcher are properly interested in upholding the rights of Oregon residents on college campuses, including the right to be ready to defend themselves against armed violence.
Hanna and Thatcher are in the minority party. But the majority party should be equally concerned. They might start by inviting Maxwell to a hearing to hear the full story of what happened to him.
Then they should tell the state university system to start obeying state law where carry permits are concerned. (hh)