WEST LIBERTY – Anyone heading to the West Liberty University campus will likely soon need to leave their firearms behind, whether concealed carry handguns or rifles hanging on pickup truck gun racks.

Citing both the West Virginia Legislature’s adoption of House Bill 4145 earlier this year – which allows anyone age 21 or older to carry a concealed handgun without a permit – and a string of deadly mass shootings across the U.S. during the last few years, the university’s Board of Governors voted unanimously Wednesday to enter a 30-day comment period for the planned new policy.

After accepting the comments from faculty and staff associates, as well as students, board members plan to consider adoption of the policy during their next regular meeting, which is set for 4 p.m. Oct. 5 in Shaw Hall.

“You have to look at some of the unfortunate things that have happened around the country,” university President Stephen Greiner said after the Wednesday meeting. “We want our students to feel safe, secure and comfortable. I don’t know how comfortable someone would feel knowing that someone on campus is carrying a dangerous weapon.”