In post-Virginia-Tech Virginia, we're more schizophrenic than ever about guns on college campuses, and whether someone with a mental illness has any business carrying a firearm.
First, Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli just issued a legal opinion saying the University of Virginia can't enforce its policy banning firearms pretty much everywhere on campus.
While U.Va. can enforce a policy against openly carrying firearms, Cuccinelli says, those with concealed-carry permits have the right to carry even inside U.Va. buildings.
And second, a recent New York Times investigation indicates that laws — including in Virginia — enacted after the 2007 Tech massacre to keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill are, in fact, doing just the opposite — enabling those with serious mental illnesses to successfully petition to have their gun rights restored, often after offering little or no evidence they're no longer a danger to themselves or others.
Cuccinelli's decision on U.Va. is a little schizo in its own right. On its face, it's a flip-flop from his earlier support for a Virginia Supreme Court decision that George Mason University in Fairfax County does have the right to enforce its regulation against weapons on campus.
Gun rights groups slammed him for that; Cuccinelli artfully dodged this time.
For one thing, he explained, GMU's ban was more "tailored" than U.Va.'s.
GMU bans "any weapon … on university property in academic buildings, administrative office buildings, student residence buildings, dining facilities, or while attending sporting, entertainment or educational events." The only exception is for police officers.
U.Va., on the other hand, bans weapons in "any academic, administration, residential, research, medical, entertainment or sports venues." The only exception is for police officers, or with the written permission of the university police chief.
See? Worlds apart.
Cooch also argued GMU's ban is a "regulation," which has "the force of law," something U.Va.'s "policy" does not.
Well, definitions may differ, but not the crux of the issue.
The Virginia justices noted GMU, as a school, is a "sensitive place." This is significant because the U.S. Supreme Court says governments can forbid firearms in "sensitive places" like schools.
But Cooch says they can only do so by force of law. And, again, a policy is not a law.
Now let's look at guns in the hands of those with serious mental health issues.
