Editorial: Self-defense at college, too

Nothing much has been heard of the legal challenge filed against the policy of Oregon state colleges to ban the possession of weapons on campus. But that's all right. The Oregon Court of Appeals, where this appeal was filed in August by a private foundation, is not exactly known for blinding speed, and we should give it time.

There's a report, however, that the Oregon University System is asking the legislature to ratify its weapons bans when it meets in January. If the legislature does this, it likely will be wasting its time, for the issue is mainly a constitutional one which the courts should get a chance to affirm.

The words of the Oregon constitution are as clear as can be. In its bill of rights, our founding document says: "The people shall have the right to bear arms for the defense of themselves, and the state, but the military shall be kept in strict subordination to the civil power."

The section - No. 27 in Article I - guarantees the right to bear arms for two purposes. The first is self-defense. The second is defense of the state. But it doesn't condition either upon the other. So even if we are no longer called upon as a militia to repel an attack, the right of self-defense remains.

The right does not disappear the minute somebody sets foot on a state university campus. Instead, it might be even more important there than in other public places. Students or professors walking by themselves to their cars on a far-off parking lot after a night class may consider it especially useful to equip themselves for any threat.

As the law now reads, universities seem to have overstepped their authority by punishing people for being found with weapons. But even if the legislature changes the law, the constitutional right "to bear arms for the defense of themselves" remains one of the many civil rights that college students and the rest of us enjoy. (hh)