WEYERS CAVE Blue Ridge Community College will no longer allow students and staff to carry weapons on campus, beginning next month.
The move comes after the state board for the community college system approved a statewide guideline recommending a ban in September, college spokeswoman Bridget Baylor said Friday.
The college decided to adopt the standard soon after, and well before this week's shooting at Virginia Tech, she said. The college's handbook had said students are subject to disciplinary action for bringing weapons on to campus if they aren't complying with the state's concealed weapons law.
Baylor said the college has not had any problems with students or staff discharging guns or threatening people with weapons. Advocates for allowing students and teachers to carry weapons into school often cite Blue Ridge as an example to follow.
In Virginia, the state attorney general's office has ruled colleges and universities have the power to ask staff and students not to carry weapons, though generally people with permits are considered free to go most places in the state.
The state board guideline adopts a state government policy that says state workers can't possess, brandish or use a weapon on state premises, unless the weapon is required by the individual's job, as is the case for a police officer.
