Concealed carry now allowed at Cedarville U.: What’s really going on?

Cedarville University’s new policy on carrying concealed handguns on campus takes effect today.

Cedarville faculty, staff and trustees with concealed carry licenses can now carry concealed handguns on campus, but there’s a few things they need to do before taking advantage of the new policy.

Cedarville became the first college in Ohio to allow some form of concealed carry. The university announced in May that its board of trustees had decided to approve the concealed carry policy.

INITIAL REPORT: Cedarville U looked to other schools for concealed carry policy

The decision came as Gov. John Kasich signed a bill into law in December, allowing individual boards of trustees to decided whether concealed carry would be allowed on their campuses.

Below are four things to know about how Cedarville University’s new policy will take effect today.

1. How does the new policy start at Cedarville?

Faculty, staff and trustees at Cedarville University can start carrying a concealed handgun, beginning Aug. 1, according to the school.

But, they must first be granted permission by Cedarville president Thomas White, according to the policy. White said earlier this year that he doesn’t have a concealed carry license in Ohio so at this point he does not plan on carrying himself.

RELATED: Despite new gun law, state firearms group won’t pressure area colleges

2. Students are still prohibited

The new Cedarville University policy allows faculty, staff and trustees to carry, but not students.

White said he’s “not comfortable yet” allowing students to carry concealed handguns.

Extending the policy to students could create some “unsafe scenarios” in which a student would need to properly story a gun in a residence hall and know how to clean a gun as well.

RELATED: 5 things to know about Ohio’s CCW law

A person must be 21-years-old to obtain a concealed carry license, so “half of our student body would be ruled out immediately,” White said.

“I think this may be it for us for now,” White said. “I can see a benefit to the other but I’m not convinced of a benefit to that end yet.”

3. What universities did Cedarville look to for inspiration?

White said Cedarville’s administration studied colleges that “demonstrated a safe way to do this,” including schools in Kansas, Texas and Virginia.

The rules differ depending on the state. Under Kansas state law, universities have to allow concealed carry in all buildings and public areas leased or owned by a school.

RELATED: CCW Expansion is latest effort to broaden gun laws in Ohio

Texas law allows permit holders to carry a concealed gun in most campus facilities with the exception of sports arenas or chemical laboratories.

One school Cedarville’s administrators looked closely at was Liberty University in Virginia. Like Cedarville, Liberty is a private, Christian institution, though with 50,000 undergraduates Liberty is considerably bigger than Cedarville, which has only around 3,300 students.

Firearms at Liberty are allowed in most buildings, including student residence halls, according to the college. Students are also allowed to carry at Liberty.

4. First college in the state to allow concealed carry

Cedarville was out front on the concealed carry policy change.

The school was the first in the state to allow it even as other colleges have decided not to alter their policies.

RELATED: Do concealed-carry laws make us safer?

Leaders at most of Ohio’s public universities have come out against concealed carry on campus, including Ohio State University. The University of Dayton is not planning to alter its policy which already prohibits guns on campus, the school said in May.

Wright State University at first reinforced its anti-gun policies but trustees said they may regroup after classes start this fall to see what the campus community wants.

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