by Kim Kilpatrick
October 15, 2010 12:13 PM
Like most U.S. colleges and universities, North Dakota State University has a “no weapons” policy on campus. But the policy has made it difficult for students who hunt in the winter to pursue their hobby -- so NDSU has opted to open a gun storage site where students can store firearms, ammunition, and bows safely and securely, without threatening campus security.
“Although we have a ‘no weapons’ policy on the NDSU campus, we also have a number of students who live on campus and use various firearms and bows for sporting purposes,” Ray Boyer, director of the University Police and Safety Office, explained in a statement NDSU released to the press earlier this month. “We want to provide the students with secure storage so they can enjoy hunting or target practice on weekends or when they are not in class.”
Although campus officials are sympathetic to the desire of some students to hunt and to practice shooting at targets, their real goal in opening the gun storage facility was to increase campus security. Because hunting weapons, like other weapons, were not allowed on campus, many NDSU students had developed the habit of storing their weapons in their locked cars. But the cars were left in parking lots on campus, and campus officials were concerned that vehicle break-ins could put weapons into the hands of criminals.
“I am concerned about the criminals who commit these crimes gaining access to a student’s hunting firearm that is being otherwise legally stored in the vehicle,” Boyer explained in his Oct. 8 statement to the press. “The safest and most prudent option for us is to store the item for the students when they live on campus. A storage site will get more of the hunting gear out of areas where criminals are known to operate and still allows students to enjoy their off-campus sports without placing them in violation of policy.”
Technically, students who store guns and ammunition in their vehicles are in violation of the Code of Student Behavior (section 5.12), which prohibits students from taking firearms and explosives onto campus.
The gun storage facility, which is located at the south end of NDSU in the Auxiliary Enterprise Building, will be open 24 hours a day, seven days per week. It will be available only to current NDSU students who live on campus. To put a weapon into the storage facility, a student will have to bring it to the storage site cased and unloaded. A police officer will be present whenever a weapon is checked in or checked out of storage, and students will be expected to show a picture identification to complete the process of checking a weapon in or out. For additional security, the storage facility has a series of locks, and is equipped with surveillance cameras, similar to those used by ordinary self storage facilities.
Sources used:
Bergeson, Steve. “NDSU to offer secure storage for on-campus student hunters.” NDSU News/Media Relations. Oct. 8, 2010.
“NDSU offers secure place for students who hunt to store firearms, bows.” The Jamestown Sun. Oct. 10, 2010.
“NDSU to offer secure storage for on-campus student hunters.” NDSU News. Oct. 8, 2010.
“North Dakota college to open firearm storage site for students.” The Whitetail Journal. October 14, 2010.
Severns, Matt. “Weapons on campus: new facility provides secure storage.” The Spectrum. Oct. 15, 2010.
Tags: gun storage, firearm storage, ammunition storage, hunting storage, north dakota state university, no weapons policy, ray boyer, university police, safety office, hunting weapons, target practice
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