Judge rules against guns in campus apartments

Via daughter Xenia and Idaho gun lobbyist Mike Brown (who says, “Time for plan ‘B’”) we find that, pretty much as expected, the University of Idaho gets to keep banning guns on campus:

A state judge ruled Thursday in favor of the University of Idaho in a lawsuit challenging the school’s restrictions on keeping firearms in on-campus housing.

The ruling was handed down by 2nd District Judge John Stegner in a case brought by second-year law student Aaron Tribble. He filed his lawsuit in January, claiming that the university’s ban on firearms at his on-campus apartment infringed on his constitutional rights.

The university bans firearms on campus, but students are allowed to store and check out their guns at a police substation on the Moscow campus.

University attorneys said that Tribble agreed to waive certain rights when he entered into an agreement to live on campus — an argument that the judge agreed with, the Moscow-Pullman Daily News reported (http://bit.ly/szuuZ4 ). The judge wrote the state Board of Regents has a right to regulate and maintain a safe environment on campus.

Mike and I have had many long talks about this lawsuit and the issue of guns on Idaho campuses. While the lawsuit was with the best of intentions it probably wasn’t the best way to approach the problem. Mike thinks we have a much better chance fixing this problem going through the legislature. We came close last year but there are highly charged emotional issues that need to be carefully addressed. We will be trying again this year. Part of the plan may include a private Boomershoot party for the legislators.

It’s a small world.

In addition to this being in the town where I have my Idaho home, everyone in our immediate family and many in our extended family went to college here. Daughter Kim still attends and will graduate in June. When in grade school Kim was good friends with one of Judge Stegner’s daughters. Stegner was the judge on the one trial I where I was on a jury. If Tribble appeals it probably will go before appeals court Judge Karen Lansing. Karen is my cousin. When growing up we lived 0.75 miles apart and she used to read me books when I was very little. The hillside where all the long range targets for Boomershoot are placed is owned by Karen’s brother.

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6 thoughts on “Judge rules against guns in campus apartments

  1. As long as the press continues to vilify the tool instead of the villain the fight for gun rights will continue.

  2. “…banned on campus.” And that’s why G-d made Kel-tecs(and later LCP’s, etc)…

  3. So, two questions come to mind; 1- Is there residential real estate just off campus that either cash flows (from the perspective of a landlord looking to rent) OR can be redeveloped to higher residential density. AND 2- is there a local inexpensive rkba training option, like maybe a network of NRA instructors, who could refer responsible college students to a landlord looking to offer housing without this kind of big brother issue?
    We have to fix the college of course. But students should have options right now that prevent them from having to wait for their rights.

  4. “University attorneys said that Tribble agreed to waive certain rights when he entered into an agreement to live on campus”

    Really? So…a rental agreement can force you to give up 1st Amendment rights? How about unreasonable search? Can the campus quarter troops in his apartment if they feel like it. If the campus said that he had waived his 1st Amendment rights, that case would have been thrown out of court.

    Its A RIGHT. A HUMAN right. It can’t be waived. You never lose it.

  5. Joe,

    First, the appeal will go directly to the Idaho Supreme Court.

    Second, the Idaho Supreme Court will not be anywhere near as dismissive as one liberal anti-gun judge. There are two or three textualist judges on the Idaho Supreme Court who will correctly analyze article 1 section 11 of the Idaho Constitution rather than redact most of the article as Judge Stegner has done.

    So stop hanging your head like this is the end of all gun rights in Latah County. It’s one man’s opinion! And he’s a man that every right-thinking Idahoan in Latah County should vote out of office in 2014 for refusing to follow the law.

    Now maybe Mike Brown could do something about this problem if he could actually tailor a piece of legislation to correctly attack the issue. Last year, he tried to bite off way more than the state senate was comfortable chewing. Legislatively, it would be best to fix this problem incrementally instead of trying to make a quantum leap as Mike Brown is advocating.

    The fight on this is not over so don’t make it sound like it is. Tribble v. State Board has just begun. Judge Stegner is just liberal pissant. The real battle will be in the Idaho Supreme court next fall.

  6. @Boyd, there is lots of off campus housing within walking distance. Both my daughters lived at our home and walked to class.

    @Dinky805, Sorry if I made it sound like it was over. That was not my intention. And I did state that an appeal was possible.

    I would prefer a court victory on constitutional grounds over a legislative victory because that would make it far less likely to be changed in the future. I’m just not sure it is as likely to happen.

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