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Guns rights groups have sued Ohio State University, claiming the school unlawfully prohibits students, faculty and employees from carrying weapons on its campuses. The lawsuit cited a story in The Lantern that quoted E. Gordon Gee, the former university president, as saying, 'I'm in charge, and we're not going to do it,'' referring to concealed weapons on campus.

(The Associated Press)

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Guns rights groups have sued Ohio State University, claiming the school unlawfully bans the possession of firearms by students, faculty and staff at its campuses.

Students for Concealed Carry Foundation Inc. and Ohioans for Concealed Carry filed the lawsuit in Franklin County Common Pleas Court on Sunday. The suit says Ohio State violates state law and prevents students from defending themselves in the event of violent crime.

The suit said Ohio State, through its policies, regulates the ownership, possession, purchase and carrying of firearms, which, the suit contends, veers from state law.

The suit said the university restricts "the fundamental rights to keep and bear arms, including the common law and Constitutionally protected rights'' of university students, faculty, staff, employees, visitors and the public, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit cites a story in The Lantern, the university's student paper, that quoted former university president E. Gordon Gee, who said in 2012: "I'm in charge, and we're not going to do it,'' referring to allowing concealed weapons on campus.

A spokesman for the university, Gary Lewis, said Ohio State was served with the lawsuit, and its lawyers "are reviewing it and will prepare an appropriate legal response.''

The complaint comes at a time when the issue of guns on campus is a hot-button topic. Last month, The Plain Dealer reported on a study that showed an overwhelming majority of college presidents want to keep their campuses gun free.

"Currently available data indicates that college campuses are one of the safest places in communities for college-age students, and college leaders want to keep it that way," study co-author Jagdish Khubchandani, a member of Ball State University's Global Health Institute, said in a press release.

About 95 percent of 401 college executives surveyed opposed concealed handguns on campus and about 91 percent cited accidental shootings of fellow students as the greatest disadvantage of allowing concealed weapons, according to "University Presidents' Perceptions and Practice Regarding the Carrying of Concealed Handguns on College Campuses."

Ohio law, however, trumps the sentiments of university presidents, guns rights groups say.

Students for Concealed Carry is a national nonprofit organization that believes those who have concealed carry licenses should have the same personal protection on a college campus as afforded almost everywhere else, its officials say.

The group said in a statement released Monday that Ohio State "disarms students to and from campus, leaving them vulnerable to violent crime on their commute in what is historically a high crime area, the University District.''

Michael R. Moran, a Columbus attorney representing the groups, points out that students who are caught with weapons by campus police may never face any criminal charges. But they could face punishment through the school.

That's because the issue could go to academic officials who could hand down severe penalties, including expulsion, that "can virtually guarantee the disciplined student may never earn an accredited degree.''

Students for Concealed Carry, as well as Ohioans for Concealed Carry, are seeking a judgment declaring the university's rules unenforceable, as well as a permanent injunction that stops the rules. They also are seeking attorney fees.