{"id":410,"date":"2012-04-11T16:53:19","date_gmt":"2012-04-11T16:53:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/monachuslex.com\/?p=410"},"modified":"2012-04-11T16:53:19","modified_gmt":"2012-04-11T16:53:19","slug":"virginia-tech-publishes-final-weapons-on-campus-regulation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/monachuslex.com\/?p=410","title":{"rendered":"Virginia Tech publishes final ‘Weapons on Campus’ regulation"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>In the April 9, 2012 edition<\/a> of the Virginia Register, the final Virginia Tech ‘Weapons on Campus’ regulation was published and now has the force and effect of law.<\/p>\n

The regulation, which is codified at\u00a08VAC105-20-10 through 8VAC105-20-40<\/a>, addresses the “carrying, maintaining, or storing” of both “firearms” and “weapons.”<\/p>\n

The regulation specifically separates the two terms and defines them broadly. \u00a0In 8VAC105-10<\/a>, firearms are defined as:<\/p>\n

… any gun, rifle, pistol, or handgun designed to fire any projectile including but not limited to bullets, BBs, pellets, or shots, including paint balls, regardless of the propellant used.<\/p>\n

Weapons are defined in the same section as:<\/p>\n

… any instrument of combat, or any object not designed as an instrument of combat but carried for the purpose of inflicting or threatening bodily injury. Examples include but are not limited to (i) firearms; (ii) knives with fixed blades or pocket knives with blades longer than four inches; (iii) razors or metal knuckles; (iv) blackjacks, foils, or hatchets; (v) bows and arrows; (vi) nun chahkas; (vii) stun weapons; or (viii) any explosive or incendiary device. Stun weapon is defined as any device that emits a momentary or pulsed output that is electrical, audible, optical, or electromagnetic in nature and that is designed to temporarily incapacitate a person.<\/p>\n

From a legal perspective, it is interesting to note that this definition of ‘weapon’ clearly would encompass even pepper spray carried by an employee or student for self-defense since it is ultimately carried for “the purpose of inflicting or threatening bodily injury” when necessary. \u00a0And the exceptions to the general prohibition codified at 8VAC105-20-30<\/a>\u00a0do not include any provisions that would allow even the most basic of non-offensive self-defense tools.<\/p>\n

Since a jury recently held<\/a> that Virginia Tech has a “special relationship” with students such that the students could be expected to be reasonably protected, forbidding such basic personal protection options to students will almost certainly give rise to future lawsuits against the university.<\/p>\n

In any case, returning to an analysis of the regulation as promulgated, it addresses the behavior of two distinct groups of people.<\/p>\n

The first group is comprised of “university’s employees, students, and volunteers.” \u00a0This group of people is generally prohibited from “carrying, maintaining, or storing a firearm or weapon on any university property.”<\/p>\n

The second group is comprised of “[a]ny visitor or other third party.” \u00a0However, in attempting to bring this group under the auspices of the power granted to the University by their enabling statute at\u00a0\u00a7 23-122<\/a> of the Code of Virginia, they limit the times that visitors and third parties are subject to the prohibition. \u00a0The regulation only applies to those visitors and third parties who are:<\/p>\n