Students at Ohio University will have greater input into whether the school lets them bring licensed firearms on campus, compared to students at other schools in the state.
A new Ohio law lets each school decide whether and how to allow firearms on campus, and the OU student senate approved a referendum letting students vote on campus carry. It closes at 11:59 tonight.
According to the independent campus publication The New Political, this is the first time the referendum procedure has been used since its creation by the senate last year:
It’s essentially a chance for students to give their input on the issue of concealed carry on OU’s campus. Previously, concealed carry weapons were not permitted on any college campuses in the state of Ohio, but the passage of House Bill 48 (Senate Bill 199) allows each campus to individually make this decision.
The state law was fast-tracked after a Somali refugee student ran over and stabbed people at Ohio State University in an apparent defense of Islam. Shortly after the bill was signed into law, a campus-carry student activist at OSU was shot dead in an incident the police said was not “random.”
MORE: OSU stabber’s name added to list of nonwhites wrongly killed by police
The Board of Trustees discussed the law and how OU should respond at a Friday meeting, but its main purpose was settling on “the manner in which they should go about seeking input, along with what information was needed to make a decision,” The New Political reports:
Executive Vice President and Provost Pam Benoit suggested sending out a survey as some other Ohio schools have done since the bill was signed into law. Other members of the board thought the decision should be based less on outside factors and more on common principles, such as the desire to keep students safe.
The results of the referendum will factor into the recommendation the student senate gives the trustees. That recommendation requires a two-thirds vote to pass.
According to The New Political, OU is one of the few schools that has discussed the new law in detail.
OSU has said campus carry isn’t on the table even after its terrorist attack, and the University of Cincinnati, Miami University of Ohio, Xavier University and Wright State also aren’t changing their anti-carry stance.
Read the referendum overview and TNP coverage of the trustees and other colleges’ reactions.
MORE: OSU campus-carry activist shot dead near campus
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