Professor Sues University of Missouri Over Gun Restrictions — Reality Check, Aisle 2A

COLUMBIA, MISSOURI — Tenured professor Royce de R. Barondes has filed a suit against the Board of Curators and the president of University of Missouri over an alleged breach of constitutional law.  According to the Washington Times, Barondes, a law-abiding concealed carrier, is prohibited from storing his firearm in his vehicle or taking it with him onto campus due to unconstitutional restrictions placed upon him by the University of Missouri.  He alleges that if he were to take his concealed carry pistol with him, he fears he would lose his job.

He is represented by attorney Jennifer Bukowsky.  She issued the following statement in response to the University of Missouri declining to comment on the case.

“This is a sensitive subject to many people, but it doesn’t change the fact that it is a constitutional right for Mr. Barondes,” Bukowsky said. “He should be able to exercise that right, and the university shouldn’t be able to violate it.”

Included in this lawsuit is also a provision Missouri voters pushed in, specifically stating that the ability to keep and bear arms is an inalienable right.  Furthermore, review of any law that appears to limit or infringe those rights must be held under “strict scrutiny”.

Essentially, this professor has the perfect case.  University of Missouri doesn’t have a proverbial shot in heck of dismantling the case because institutions of higher learning have operated under this silly pretense that they are somehow above the law.  There’s been this mass hypnosis that somehow a 21-year-old college student or a 62-year-old professor are limited in their constitutional rights because an administration arbitrarily decides to not like guns.

It’s not about liking guns.  It’s about a right that’s been guaranteed through the Bill of Rights and subject to state restrictions — not activist administrators.

So, as we watch closely to see the results from this suit, we’ll also hope that other universities across the country take particular note as well.  Once this case is decided — and if I was a betting man, I’d bet the house on the ruling going in favor of the professor — this will open up precedent for other members of faculty to finally take back their constitutionally provisioned rights.