Local sues to carry guns on campus

A Valley resident is suing JMU for the right to carry a gun on campus.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday against President Linwood Rose, challenges the university’s authority to prevent people who hold concealed weapons permits to carry guns on school property.

"I’m sorry, but public colleges and university grounds are not exempt from Virginia law," said Dave Briggman, a Keezletown resident, who filed the suit in Rockingham County Circuit Court.

Briggman maintains that public institutions such as JMU can’t enact policies contrary to the state code, which only prohibits concealed handguns in places of worship, courthouses, places licensed for alcohol and K-12 schools.

A frequent visitor to JMU, Briggman said he usually carries a concealed gun on campus, a violation of JMU’s weapons policy.

"I can carry a concealed weapon into the General Assembly. I can carry a concealed weapon into any state building but the courthouse," said Briggman, who is also state chairman of the Republican Liberty Caucus. "Why can’t I carry a gun on University Boulevard or in the school’s library? They don’t have the legal right to stop me."

JMU’s weapons policy states, "No person shall carry, maintain, or store a weapon, concealed or otherwise, on any property owned, leased, or controlled by James Madison University." Exemptions include law enforcement but make no mention of gun owners in possession of a concealed weapons permit.

"I can be ejected from campus for merely driving through with a gun in my car," said Briggman, who possesses a concealed weapons permit. JMU policy bars violators from campus and allows police to seize the weapon.

The Commonwealth Attorney’s Office told Briggman he wouldn’t be prosecuted for carrying the gun on campus, Briggman said. The office was unavailable for comment.

"It’s something I think about when I drive through. I hope it would never come to that," he said. "But this policy is clearly against state law."

In March 2003, when Briggman was a night student at Bridgewater Community College, he challenged the school’s weapon policy. In an informal opinion, the Attorney General advised that the college’s policy was not legal, Briggman said. Though he no longer is a student, he has carried a concealed weapon on the campus since the opinion.

If the court ruled in Briggman’s favor, the policy would not necessarily allow students and employees to also carry weapons on campus.

"This lawsuit addresses my rights as a visitor who possesses a lawful concealed weapons permit," Briggman said. For a student to carry a concealed weapon on campus, a student who possesses the proper permit should file a case, he said. The student must be at least 21 because of the minimum age to obtain a concealed weapons permit.

Fred Hilton, director of media relations, said the university hasn’t seen any documentation of the lawsuit. While he declined to speculate on possible changes to university policy, Hilton said students still will operate under university policy and the Student Handbook, both of which prohibit gun possession. Each has been part of JMU policy for a number of years, he said.

"It’s an effort to provide a safe and secure learning and working environment for students, employees and visitors," Hilton said.

Briggman will not be represented by a lawyer at the hearing, scheduled for Oct. 20. "This is too easy for a lawyer," he said. "It’s clear JMU is in violation of state law."