The University of Maryland Senate decided at a Wednesday hearing it will not develop a new campus weapons policy, despite concerns from a University of Maryland Police member that current policy is too thin.
The senate’s Campus Affairs committee — which looked into the idea starting last November after a request from former senate chair Willie Brown and decided against a new policy in April — had met with members from the university Office of General Counsel during its investigation and discussed the complications of making a university policy that aligns with state law.
“Since the potential for being out of alignment with state law involves risk for the University, the [Office of General Councel] suggested that it would be best for any decision related to the creation of a weapons policy to come from the University System of Maryland, which could develop a policy that would apply to all USM institutions,” according to the committee’s recommendation report, which the senate reviewed on Wednesday.
In addition to outlining the complications of a new policy, the committee’s report also contained the police member’s concerns.
“The UMPD had found that current university guidance to faculty, staff and campus visitors related to possession of weapons was lacking,” said Campus Affairs Committee chair Erin Rooney-Eckel, reading from her committee’s report. “The representative from UMPD suggested a comprehensive policy, such as the policy in use at the University of Maryland Baltimore, may be useful to the UMD community.”
Current UMB policy outlines weapons as “guns, firearms, ammunition, other weapons, or replicas of weapons” and prohibits carrying any of these items on any UMB properties, according to the UMB policy and procedure website.
The policy also prohibits students and faculty from carrying weapons at any off-campus location where they are representing the university through any “employment or educational experience,” the website stated.
The only exceptions to the policy are for UMB police officers, other law enforcement and, in certain cases, individuals who are using weapons or replicas for educational purposes and receive written approval from the UMB Chief of Police, according to the website.
This university’s current weapons policy enacts disciplinary action for “Unauthorized on campus or illegal off-campus use, possession, or storage of any weapon,” according to the Code of Student Conduct.
Students have received various police alerts over the past few months regarding weapons, including an armed robbery of three students playing Pokemon Go in July and a shooting at University of Maryland University College Inn and Conference Center on Tuesday, which left a security guard critically injured.
While it turned down the new weapons policy, the Senate Executive Committee agreed at the hearing to develop a communication plan to inform student and faculty of existing state weapon laws, Senate Chairman Jordan Goodman said.
