The Oklahoma Public Safety Committee will once again decide whether to allow licensed faculty and staff to carry concealed firearms on the campuses of Oklahoma’s public universities, including UCO.

House Bill 1083, a proposal held over from last year’s committee session, must be addressed by next week if it’s going to be considered by the Oklahoma House and Senate in 2010.

The bill, written by Oklahoma Rep. Jason Murphey (R-Guthrie), would grant concealed weapon rights to “any person who possesses a valid concealed handgun license issued pursuant to the provisions of the Oklahoma Self-Defense Act … and who is a member of faculty who is primarily charged with classroom teaching responsibilities,” according to Section E of the bill’s text, the most controversial piece of the firearm legislation.

“Some college populations are larger than small Oklahoma towns, and they have these red lines around them (that restrict concealed weapon possession),” Murphey said.

Murphey initially introduced the bill shortly after the Northern Illinois University shooting killed six and injured another 18 in February of 2008.

Though Murphey is a member of the National Rifle Association, he insisted he wasn’t supporting concealed weapons rights simply to promote Second Amendment rights.

Murphey said House Bill 1083 is meant only to provide a safer college environment. “(Concealed weapons rights on campus) create doubt in criminals’ minds,” Murphey said.

The first incarnation of the bill gave concealed weapons rights to more than just faculty.

“Originally, (the bill) had a pretty pure approach,” Murphey said.

That pure approach gave students more than 21 years of age the right to carry concealed weapons on university campuses.

The original version of the bill soundly passed through the Public Safety Committee with a 14-2 bipartisan vote.

The bill was amended to apply only to former military students 21 and older, but died between the state Senate and House.

The current form of House Bill 1083 first came out before the committee sessions in 2009, but was never brought up and was eventually postponed to this year’s session.

The bill could meet the same fate this year if not addressed in the upcoming and final week of the 2010 sessions.

Some faculty members at UCO believe allowing their piers to carry concealed weapons on campus would only increase the danger of gun violence at Oklahoma universities.

Elaine Bartgis, a professor of sociology and criminal justice at UCO, is one teacher who describes herself as adamantly against House Bill 1083.

“I am against anyone carrying firearms on a university campus except commissioned, certified police officers,” Bartgis said.

Bartgis, who served for 15 years in Oklahoma law enforcement, first as a municipal officer, then as an investigator for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation before working at UCO, fears university faculty lack the proper training to carry concealed weapons at their workplace.

“(Concealed weapons licenses) require minimal training. Law enforcement officers have to qualify several times a year, and they’re well trained. It’s not just ‘go out there and barely qualify,’” Bartgis said. “I’d be reluctant for even faculty that are former law enforcement officers to carry firearms {on campus}.”

The steps required to receive a conceal and carry license in Oklahoma include a safety and training course, accepted application from the OSBI, a background check and a $100 application fee. An Oklahoma license only requires renewal every five years, compared to one for most states.

Jeff Harp, executive director of UCO Police Services, shares that view with Bartgis, and adds that training isn’t enough to justify faculty to carry concealed firearms.

“This bill, and any other bill that would allow anybody other than a currently employed, certified, commissioned law enforcement official to carry a gun on a college campus is inconsistent with us maintaining a safe campus,” Harp said. “It creates risks and dangers for our campus community that far exceed the value that is derived from the legislation itself.”

“Police officers, we carry (firearms) every day. We’re used to the weight of them. We handle them every day, and there’s a familiarity that comes with our training that makes us carrying our weapons inherently safer than the general population,” Harp said.

Though Harp has his reservations, he concedes that he would abide by the law if it is passed.

“We’ll continue to monitor it, and of course if it does come out and get passed, like every other law on this issue, we’ll support it, enforce it, and we’ll move on from there,” Harp said.

David Jenkins, president pro tempore of UCOSA Senate, is one UCO student who supports Murphey’s bill.

“One in 15 Oklahomans have a concealed weapon, and can carry it anywhere in public,” Jenkins said. “But colleges seem to have this bubble around them.”

Jenkins said there are at least 10 higher education facilities that are under similar legislation, including a community college in Virginia and several Utah colleges that are under the state mandate to protect firearm possession on campuses.

At those schools, Jenkins said there have been no incidents involving gun violence.

An acquaintance of Murphey, Jenkins said that today’s trepidation among legislators about bills like House Bill 1083 compares to the public fear of gun violence when Oklahoma first adapted concealed weapons rights in 1995.

“There were talks about shoot-outs over parking spots, or accidental discharges in grocery stores,” Jenkins said.

Jenkins argued that the case is the opposite for this instance, presenting his own analogy for restricting concealed gun rights on the campuses of Oklahoma public universities.

“It’s like letting a wolf into a sheep’s bin,” Jenkins said.

If 1083 does survive the committee phase, Jenkins thinks that, although the odds aren’t perfect, it may have its best chance thus far.

“Given the overall election climate,” which Jenkins noted is trending right, “I’d like to say it has a better chance.”

Those against the bill have reasons of their own to believe the bill would stall even if it did pass committee.

One that they point at is the scenario at Colorado State University. CSU had a long-standing reservation for campus carry and conceal rights until last year, when the university’s board of directors voted to restrict those rights on students and faculty on the Fort Collins campus.

What’s more, pundits point to Murphey’s lack of campus experience as a potential weak point in his defense of 1083.

Murphey, who was home-schooled and received a degree from Charter Oak State College online, contends that his campus experience is plenty enough to understand how students and faculty experience college life.

“I know what the environment is like,” Murphey said. “[Writing 1083] was not like writing a transportation bill without knowing how to drive.”

With just one week remaining in the current committee sessions, all parties concede that the likelihood of 1083 receiving consideration in 2010 is slim.

If again passed over this year, Murphey plans to watch how firearm legislation evolves throughout the year to determine whether he will again introduce 1083, or similar legislation, in 2011.