The Arizona Faculties Council, which represents the faculty governments at the state’s three public universities, has gone on record opposing recent legislative attempts to introduce firearms to Arizona university campuses. However, the council feels the Arizona Legislature should listen more closely.
“These gun bills seem to be targeted, so to speak, at faculty members, as a means of protecting us from mad pistoleros; however, we fail to see how arming untrained faculty members could create a better learning environment,” said Bill Culbertson, NAU professor and chair of the Arizona Faculties Council.
The most recent bill would allow faculty members to carry concealed firearms while teaching in classrooms or performing other duties on the campuses of Northern Arizona University, Arizona State University and the University of Arizona.
“Faculty Senate bodies at all three universities concurred with advice from chiefs of police at all three universities and oppose an ill-conceived legislative action that violates the spirit of the academic community and poses a danger to all members of those communities,” according to an AFC public statement released Wednesday, March 31.