Policies, Police and Politics at the University of Wyoming

Last Saturday (April 21, 2018), the Wyoming Republican Party held its biennial state convention in Laramie. To date, nothing of what they did has been covered by the press. Rather, what happened before the gavel has dominated the headlines.

University of Wyoming police chief, Mike Samp, asked Uinta County resident, Lyle Williams, to disarm. When he declined and pointed to the state law that permitted him to carry (Wyoming Statute 6-8-401), the officer issued a citation for criminal trespass on private property.

Of course, this is not about an exchange between a solitary officer and a solitary non-credentialed observer. There had been both meetings between Republican Party leadership and university leadership as well as meetings between university leaders and law enforcement. When Samp went to the convention hall in search of someone to cite, he was apparently carrying out the direct orders of university president, Laurie Nichols. The Laramie Police Department was conspicuously absent.

Lyle Williams

Williams wasn’t a lone-wolf either. Dozens of attendees were openly carrying firearms, many of whom were standing with Williams while the citation was written. In fact, numerous eyewitnesses have told me that they were literally lined up before the officer with drivers’ licenses in hand, asking to receive citations of their own. They were denied their own citations because Samp judged that only one was necessary to bring the matter before the court.

Why were so many women and men openly carrying firearms on the university campus? There are several reasons. Most of these women and men exercise their right to bear arms every day, as a matter of course. I sat with Mr. Williams at the last convention and observed that he was carrying then as well. So, it was nothing new that he should be carrying a gun.

Wyoming GOP convention delegates

But it was unusual that so many were carrying their weapons in plain sight. It would be incorrect to think that this was sheer provocation, just to be obnoxious. The reason they were carrying openly was actually a concession to state law. Wyoming Statute 6-8-104(t)(vi) prohibits conceal carry permit holders from concealing a firearm on school property.

A second reason many were carrying firearms is due to the statistical threat posed by gun-free zones. A disproportionate number of school shootings occur where school policies prohibit firearms.

A third reason that many were carrying was to challenge UW Regulation 2-178 concerning the use of buildings and grounds. This regulation prohibits the possession of “any firearm, ammunition, explosive, paintball gun, airsoft gun, taser or other electronic restraint device, sling-shot, mace or pepper spray container in excess of 1 ounce, knife (blades 3” or longer except in the apartments or for cooking purposes only), precursor for explosives, brass knuckles, blowgun, dart gun, bow, arrow, and martial-arts weapons such as a star, sword, nunchuck, club, etc..”

These prohibitions seem to run afoul of Wyoming Statute 6-8-401(c). “[N]o city, town, county, political subdivision or any other entity shall authorize, regulate or prohibit…carrying or possession of firearms, weapons, accessories, components or ammunition except as specifically provided by this chapter.” The University of Wyoming, as an entity of the state, would not have jurisdiction to make firearms laws more restrictive than the state's laws.

UW Police Chief, Mike Samp

I wondered if the University administration considered itself an entity of the state, subject to this law. When I tried to talk to Chief Samp, his office directed me to University Spokesperson, Chad Baldwin (a former editor of the Uinta County Herald). He told me that the University of Wyoming is a “unit of state government,” and that they are the owners of the property where Williams was cited for trespassing.

All of this could have been avoided. The first cause of the clash was the Republican committee that decided to hold the convention on the UW campus. They failed to consider that many delegates carried personal firearms on a daily basis. By locating the convention in a gun-free zone, the party put its delegates in a position where they would be asked to disarm.

That problem has been addressed. Among the items of business passed at the convention, was a resolution prohibiting future conventions from being located in gun-free zones.

Of course, if the delegates had meekly followed the UW disarmament regulation, the conflict could also have been avoided. But the university administration also had a way to head off the problem. The delegates applied for a temporary waiver which could be granted under UW Regulation 2-178. If the University had granted their request, the whole matter would have been avoided.

UW President, Nichols

The fact that President Nichols refused to grant these prior requests for a two-day waiver, means that the administration was spoiling for a fight long before Mr. Williams came to town. It takes two to tango, and the university was a willing participant in this dance.

Why? I have outlined the reasons why dozens of delegates were openly carrying and willing to risk a citation to challenge the policy. Why was the university administration just as obviously willing to spend time and money to defend it?

I am not quite sure, but I will venture a guess. Looking at the policy itself, I am at a loss to understand its list of prohibited items. Remember, it’s not just about guns. It is about a long list of implements—from kitchen knives to nunchucks, from bear spray to blowguns. How a loose bullet in my pocket is a threat to anyone, or how a plastic pellet shot by a spring-loaded pistol could be a more dangerous weapon than a three-inch knife baffles me.

But let’s set that aside for the moment and focus only on the gun. That, after all, is the issue of the day. In fact, it’s not even the gun itself that is the issue. University policy makes it plain that guns are indeed allowed on campus, but only when carried by police and military.

“The Wyoming legislature,” on the other hand, “finds that the right to keep and bear arms is a fundamental right … [and] affirms this right as a constitutionally protected right in every part of Wyoming.” (W.S. 6-8-401(a)) This is the statute that the UW administration wishes to overrule in its own part of Wyoming.

The university administration is engaging a fight to assert that when it comes to the Second  Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, it can make laws independent of the state legislature that funds it. Not only that, as an entity of the state of Wyoming, it seems in open defiance of Wyoming Statute 6-8-401 altogether.

A week ago Friday two men smiled cordially and exchanged handshakes as one gave a ticket to the other in front of the UW conference center. Behind these two men, and unseen to the naked eye, was a deliberately sought conflict between the University of Wyoming and Wyoming’s elected representatives.