The University of Wyoming Board of Trustees voted against allowing concealed carry firearms into campus buildings during its public meeting Friday.

In a narrow vote, five trustees voted in favor of the rule change, while six voted against.

"I think we all have fundamental beliefs … kind of in your soul," said Trustee Dave Fall, who voted against the proposal. "And a fundamental belief I've had ever since I got involved in education is that guns do not belong in schools, period."

The proposal was unpopular on campus.

A survey this fall revealed a majority of students and employees didn't want guns in university buildings. That survey, and public comments across a variety of forums, influenced some of the trustees who voted down the proposal.

"I feel like we're being pushed into this to appease something that might be coming and might be even worse — and I just can't do that," Trustee Macey Moore said. "We've heard overwhelmingly in our public comments, from faculty, staff and students, that this doesn't make them feel safer."

Moore said she couldn't support the rule change "in any sort of fashion" given the ongoing mental health crisis and the fact that college campuses are inhabited by "emerging adults with developing brains."

Not everyone agreed. Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder is an ex-officio member of the board, meaning she does not get a vote. But appearing via Zoom, she said she would support the rule change.

"I think this is a really important step forward for the Second Amendment protections for people in Wyoming," she said shortly before it was ultimately voted down.

Concealed carry firearms are already allowed on campus grounds, just not in campus facilities.

Legislative realities

Last year, state lawmakers attempted to eliminate gun-free zones across the state. While the bill was ultimately vetoed by the governor, some lawmakers have promised to bring it back in the upcoming session. Its near-passage inspired UW to begin reevaluating its own gun policy.

The proposal grew out of that process. It would have allowed those with concealed carry permits to bring guns into most campus buildings. The final version of the proposal exempted a few particularly sensitive areas such as the residence halls and the Early Childhood Education Center.

Athletic events, governmental meetings and on-campus police facilities were always exempted in every version of the proposal.

Trustees openly stated they were looking for a compromise between what the campus overwhelmingly wanted and what state lawmakers have been pushing for.

"Probably have not made anyone completely happy, one side or the other, with this rule," said Trustee John McKinley, who chairs the board’s legislative committee and worked closely on the proposal. "But I think it reaches that delicate balance that we were trying to achieve."

McKinley voted to approve the rule change.

The trustees expect state lawmakers to attempt eliminating gun-free zones again in the next session. The awareness that the legislature could undo UW's current rule — and force the university to allow guns in campus buildings — hung over the trustees' discussion.

UW Trustees Chair Kermit Brown told faculty, students and fellow trustees they’ll have to make their case in Cheyenne this winter if they want to keep the ban in place.

"You have to talk to your individual legislators, and you have to go to Cheyenne and make your wishes known," said Brown, himself a former legislator who once served as Speaker of the House. "We don't know whether the legislature will accept it, or whether they'll cast all this aside and do their own thing."

He added that continuing the fight wouldn’t be easy or quick.

"It's important that you go over there and appear in person and make the same kind of presentations that you made here — and take everybody with you that you care to," Brown said. "This rule is going to stand until it doesn't stand. And the body that can overrule everything we do here is the legislature."

Brown voted in favor of allowing concealed carry on campus.

When the Wyoming Legislature reconvenes in mid-January, the House will be dominated by the state's right-wing Freedom Caucus, whose members and allies are often supportive of repealing gun-free zones.

A campus divided

For months, discussion about the potential rule change rocked campus. A recent town hall and multiple board meetings were civil but heated.

Throughout these forums, Professor George Mocsary, director of the UW Firearms Research Center, assured the public that concealed carry would not endanger campus.

But the trustees also heard from Hannah Phalen, an assistant professor of psychology and law — who said welcoming more guns to campus could increase the potential for a mass shooting, as well as suicide and domestic violence.

"Lax concealed carry laws are associated with increased suicides, particularly in emerging adults, also known as college age adults," she said Thursday. "We further know that college students are at great risk of intimate partner violence, and that when violent partners have access to firearms, the risk of intimate partner homicide increases by 1,100%."

At a town hall Monday, UW staff questioned how much they could trust Mocsary's analysis of the risks posed by campus carry policies. They pointed to the fact that the Firearms Research Center receives funding from arms manufacturers.

Mocsary, and UW President Ed Seidel, insisted the research center acts independently and that its research can be trusted.