<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; "><h1 id="articleTitle" class="articleTitle entry-title" style="font: normal normal normal 26px/normal Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; line-height: 35px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; font-family: verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-weight: bold; ">Colorado Supreme Court affirms that CU students can carry licensed guns on campus</h1><div id="articleByline" class="articleByline" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; font-family: verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: normal; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); min-height: 25px; clear: both; "><div id="articleDate" class="articleSecondaryDate" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-family: verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; color: rgb(144, 144, 144); text-transform: uppercase; float: right; text-align: right; ">POSTED: 03/05/2012 09:43:35 AM MST <br>UPDATED: 03/05/2012 01:34:55 PM MST</div><a class="articleByline" href="mailto:mwhaley@denverpost.com?subject=The%20Denver%20Post:" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; font-weight: normal; "><span class="author vcard" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><span class="fn" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><b>By Monte Whaley</b><br><i>The Denver Post</i></span></span></a></div><span style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><br></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px; ">In a victory for </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; ">gun-rights advocates, the Colorado Supreme Court today struck down the University of Colorado's campus gun ban, saying the CU Board of Regents overstepped its authority in blocking students from carrying licensed concealed weapons.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; "><span style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><br></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; "><div style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">"We're very, very happy," said James Manley of the Mountain State Legal Foundation, which argued against CU's ban. "The position of the Supreme Court was that they (the CU regents) were operating above the law."</div><div style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Justices ruled that the state's Concealed Carry Act's "comprehensive statewide purpose, broad language, narrow exclusions show that the General Assembly intended to divest the Board of Regents of its authority to regulate concealed handgun possession on campus."</div><div style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">The Concealed Carry Act — passed by the state legislature in 2003 — states that a person with a permit may carry a concealed weapon "in all areas of the state," with the exception of some federal properties, K-12 schools and buildings with fixed security checkpoints, such as courthouses. It also states that a "local government" may not enforce an ordinance or resolution that conflicts with law.</div><div style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">CU regents, however, said they have the authority to ban concealed weapons on campuses, leased buildings and any area under control of university police.</div><div style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">But in 2009, three students in El Paso County filed a lawsuit. The students — Students for Concealed Carry on Campus — argued the ban violated the Concealed Carry Act and the Colorado Constitution.</div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; ">In 2010, the Colorado Court of Appeals reversed that decision, saying it was clear the Concealed Carry Act was intended to apply statewide.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; "><div style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">An El Paso District Court judge dismissed their suit, saying the Board of Regents is not considered a local government, but a "statewide authority with its own legislative powers over distinct geographical areas.</div><div style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">In a unanimous decision, the State Supreme Court backed the appeals court. CU now must join Colorado State University in allowing students to carry licensed concealed weapons on campus, Manley said.</div><div style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">"My clients are extremely happy," said Manley. "They will now be able to exercise their constitutional rights to carry on campus."</div><span style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><br><br><br></span></span></body></html>