Gun charges dropped against student

Former UNL student Colin Fury said that in September, when he and a friend walked across campus with two unloaded rifles, few students reacted with alarm, and after reassuring those around them that the guns were not loaded, most were curious about the large rifles."Really nobody was alarmed," Fury said. "There was one girl who saw us that was laughing and we could tell she was a little nervous. So I said to her, "Don't worry these guns aren't loaded we're just headed to NRA College Republicans Day at the student union.'"

However, Fury and Craig Clark, a student at Southeast Community College, were later charged with unlawful possession of a firearm on school grounds. Fury, at that time a political science major, also faced disciplinary action from UNL for violation of the student code of conduct.

Fury and Clark were on the way to a College Republicans meeting to discuss the National Rifles Association.

"We knew there were rules on campus against concealed weapons, so we had them unloaded and carried them," Fury said. "The university police were not called until an hour after everything was done."

Fury said he did not know they had created such an uproar until reading about it the next day in the Daily Nebraskan. They were initially charged with disturbing the peace, which was later changed to firearms on school grounds.

The charges were eventually dismissed by Judge Gale Pokorny in July, saying that "school" was not properly defined in the law.

Fury was required by UNL to take a decision making class and do community service. He was also placed on disciplinary probation, and if he returns to UNL next spring would continue to be required to attend weekly meetings with his college's dean.

"I'm glad to not have to go to court anymore. I think the judge made the right decision, according to the state laws on the books, I'm glad the judge didn't try to legislate from the bench," Fury said. "I'm also happy the university's been good to me. The dean has really tried to take care of me."

However, even with the charges dismissed, Fury is still being adversely affected, especially recently when pursuing jobs. He said the prosecution had filed an appeal, but then withdrew it.

"The one funny thing is back after they dropped their appeal, it's weird, I applied for a job at Fedex ground, they found there was still an open court case misdemeanor against me so they would not hire me."

He also resigned as an intern for Jeff Fortenberry's campaign in an effort to distance the controversy from the candidate.

Assistant Manager of Campus Security Paul Kosel said firearms are only occasionally allowed on campus at UNO, such as for presentations or class projects, as long as they are cleared before-hand.

"As long as they clear that with us, we allow them to bring it specifically for that class," he said.

Even campus security officers do not carry firearms, and since the concealed carry law was passed in Nebraska, signs have been posted throughout campus forbidding firearms.

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Kosel said that while there had not been any similar incidents at UNO, violence on university campuses across the nation require his department to remain vigilant.