Kudos to Montana Governor Steve Bullock who has vetoed legislation passed by Republican majorities in both houses of the legislature that would have permitted students to keep guns in their dorm rooms.

Here are the lead paragraphs from the Huffington Post article:

“Montana Gov. Steve Bullock (D) vetoed a bill Monday that would have allowed guns on college campuses in the state, the Associated Press reported.

“Under the defeated bill, students would have been able to keep guns in their dorms if their roommate agreed to it, and students, staff and faculty could have carried a concealed firearm with a permit.

“The legislation, passed mostly along party lines out of the Republican-controlled legislature, would’ve stripped the state’s Board of Regents and the Montana University System of their authority to regulate firearms on public college campuses. The board currently has a policy requiring students to store guns in a vehicle or a secure place on campus. These guns are typically hunting weapons kept in special lockers, the AP reported.”

The rest of the article can be found at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/07/steve-bullock-veto-guns-campus-carry_n_3229859.html?utm_hp_ref=college&ir=College.

If you are wondering whether students, in particular in the Western states, might desire to have guns in their dorms, I can provide at least one piece of evidence that they don’t. In November 2012, the following item appeared in Inside Higher Education:

Gun Dorms Aren’t Attracting Students in Colorado

November 26, 2012

“Under court order, the University of Colorado has ended a ban on guns on campus and has even made it possible for students who are registered gun-owners to keep their weapons in their residence halls. At the Boulder and Colorado Springs campuses, the university said that it would create residential spaces for students with guns. But The Denver Post reported that although this option was announced in August, not a single student has asked to live where guns are permitted.”

Read more: http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2012/11/26/gun-dorms-arent-attracting-students-colorado#ixzz2DgPBbCSO