The founder of a group committed to putting an initiative on this fall’s ballot that would ban concealed weapons on college campuses says they’ve gathered more than 50 percent of the necessary signatures, far ahead of the June 30 deadline.

“We’ve gotten responses from 44 of the state’s 64 counties so far, and frankly, it’s been a very easy signature to get,” said Ken Toltz of the Boulder-based Safe Campus Colorado.

The group has to submit 86,105 signatures by June 30 to the secretary of state’s office, which approved the initiative proposal this year. Toltz said Safe Campus Colorado’s goal is to “get far more” than the minimum number of signatures.

Current Colorado law prohibits, with limited exceptions, individuals from bringing concealed weapons into public elementary, middle, junior high or high schools. However, the state does allow anyone over the age of 21 with a permit from the state to carry a concealed weapon, including on college campuses. If the Safe Campus measure makes it to the ballot, the initiative would add public higher education institutions to the list of places where weapons couldn’t be carried.

Toltz said the ballot initiative wouldn’t be necessary if state legislators were successful in trying to pass a law in 2013 that would have banned concealed carry on campus. A bill that was sponsored by Sen. Rollie Heath, D-Boulder, cleared the House of Representatives as well as the Senate’s State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee, but was later shelved by Heath in the face of growing opposition.

Beginning in 2009, six years after the state’s concealed-carry law was passed, the University of Colorado tried to ban guns, saying it had the authority to make decisions regarding its campuses. A fter a series of reversals and appeals, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled in 2012 that the university must follow the state law.

Anthony Cotton: 303-954-1292, acotton@denverpost.com or twitter.com/anthonycottondp

This story has been corrected in this online archive. Originally, due to a reporting error, Ken Toltz’s name was spelled incorrectly.