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Committee advances bill letting public colleges decide whether to ban firearms on campus
Summary
The Minnesota Senate committee voted 5–4 to recommend Senate File 45‑89, which would let public colleges and universities choose to ban visitors from carrying firearms on campus and require signage if they do; supporters said it closes a loophole, while opponents warned it could reduce the presence of trained permit holders.
Senators on the Minnesota Senate Higher Education Committee voted to recommend passage of Senate File 45‑89, a bill that would allow public post‑secondary institutions to prohibit visitors from carrying firearms on campus if the institution decides to adopt such a policy.
The bill, introduced by Senator Clark, does not mandate bans but would give public colleges and universities the option to bar visitors from carrying firearms and to post campus signage notifying the public of any prohibition. Senator Clark said the measure is intended to give campuses the “flexibility to ban them if they choose” while still allowing a firearm to be locked in a vehicle in the parking lot.
Supporters framed the bill as an option that fills what they described as a legal gap. Huntley, a faculty member and union representative at Metropolitan State University, recounted multiple nearby gun incidents and said those events were often caused by people unaffiliated with the campus. “This year’s college freshman class has never known a world without the fear of gun violence in their schools and universities,” Huntley said, citing data from Everytown that, he said, found 415 incidents of gunfire on college campuses since 2013.
Mark Grant, a Dakota County Technical College faculty member speaking on behalf of Minnesota State college faculty, told the committee that campus leaders and boards should be able to weigh factors such as building layout and community needs and make local decisions. “This bill provides the option for campuses to close this loophole and extend its current policy … to the public,” he said.
Opponents warned that restricting law‑abiding permit holders could have safety tradeoffs. Senator Farnsworth cited research he said indicates a very small share of gun crimes are committed by permit holders and argued that reducing the number of trained, licensed carriers on campus could make facilities less safe. “I think this is the wrong direction,” he said.
Committee members pressed witnesses for evidence of permit‑holder problems on campuses but were told the witnesses had anecdotal accounts and that systematic data tying permit holders to campus incidents was not available. Several senators urged campuses to consult campus police or chiefs of security when considering whether to adopt a policy.
Senator Putnam moved to recommend SF 45‑89 to pass and be referred to the Judiciary and Public Safety Committee; after a roll call the committee recorded five yeas and four nays and recommended the bill pass and be referred.
The bill will go to the Judiciary and Public Safety Committee next; no final action by the full Senate was recorded in this hearing.
