Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier, IA
04-19-07
Senate rejects effort to force arming of campus police
By TODD DORMAN, Courier Des Moines Bureau
DES MOINES --- The Iowa Senate narrowly defeated an effort Wednesday to
require university police officers to carry firearms in the wake of a deadly
shooting spree at Virginia Tech.
Senate Republicans tried unsuccessfully to add the gun requirement to a
massive education funding bill. Currently, campus police at Iowa's state
universities are prohibited from carrying guns, except under special
circumstances.
"We just learned from the tragedy in Virginia that things happen fast," said Sen.
Pat Ward, R-Clive, who sponsored the amendment. "Our campus police need
loaded guns."
Democratic critics insisted that the Board of Regents and university presidents
already have the authority to arm campus police when necessary. They argued a
"knee-jerk" legislative intervention isn't needed.
The measure was defeated on a 25-25 vote after a debate that grew testy.
Amendments that fail to receive a majority vote are defeated.
"I see the Senate Republicans as playing politics with an incredible tragedy and I
think they ought to be ashamed of themselves," said Senate Majority Leader
Mike Gronstal, D-Council Bluffs, before the floor debate began.
Sen. Larry McKibben, R-Marshalltown, railed against "liberal Democrats" and
blamed them for blocking the measure.
"We have trained law enforcement officers in the Capitol building wearing arms to
protect us. Get real colleagues," McKibben said.
Backers of the gun requirement argued that unarmed campus police are illequipped to deal with potential violence. Ward said the University of Iowa and
Iowa State University are the only institutions in their respective athletic
conferences where campus police do not carry guns.
Republicans contended that campus police are state-certified peace officers who
should be allowed to wield more firepower than Tasers.
"I don't think it's right to wait for the Board of Regents to act," Ward said.
Opponents said repeatedly that the final call should remain with the Board of
Regents, which is set to review security policies at its meeting in May . They also
questioned whether a gun mandate is the right response to the tragedy.
"The campus police at Virginia Tech did have guns and it didn't do a darn bit of
good," said Sen. Herman Quirmbach, D-Ames, a professor at Iowa State
University. "I think that our universities are capable of having this discussion."
Five Democrats joined with all 20 Senate Republicans voting in favor of the
requirement. The Democrats who voted yes are Sens. Jeff Danielson, Waterloo;
Bill Dotzler, Waterloo; Tom Hancock, Epworth; Bill Heckroth, Waverly; and Rich
Olive, Story City.
"To say that Democrats don't care about public safety couldn't be further from the
truth," Dotzler said.
Contact Todd Dorman at (515) 243-0138 or at todd.dorman@lee.net