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(WSLS) BLACKSBURG, VA -- A tweak in the rule book by leaders at Virginia Tech has triggered a November protest on campus. Tech's Libertarian Party is hosting members of the Virginia Citizens Defense League in a pro-gun right's demonstration.
"We don't believe that as a public university, Virginia Tech has any right to regulate the possession of firearms at all," said Eric Smith, President of the Virginia Tech Libertarians.
The university made efforts this summer to change their policy banning guns on campus after an opinion by the attorney general said it was too broad.
"We don't believe guns belong on college campuses, we don't think they belong in classrooms, they don't belong in dormitories, they don't belong in dining halls," said Larry Hincker, President of University Relations at Virginia Tech.
"Normal citizens are not here to stop criminals that what you have the police for and I figure that if untrained people have guns and try to do that it's going to cause more harm than help," said David Gonzalez-Fitch, a student at Virginia Tech.
According to Ken Cuccinelli, policy governing students and faculty does not apply to someone without university affiliation. VCDL members say it is why they have planned demonstrations at a handful of colleges including Tech.
"This is kind of the straw that broke the camels back, we were already concerned about this in the first place," said Smith.
Smith said the reason they chose the date of the home football game between UNC and Virginia Tech to protest is because of the national media attention that is expected on campus, but it is also a school day and one reason why Hincker says the permit was granted at the Squires Student Union, and not around the bulk of classrooms.
The student group at first applied to use the Drillfield at the center of campus, but was denied.
"The whole purpose of having permission to cite a rally or protest is so that the university can place it in a location where it will not have a significant impact on the ongoing events of the university," said Hincker.
What remains clear about this controversial issue is the difference in opinion of both university leaders and gun rights advocates.
University leaders say the attorney general's office is currently reviewing the new language added to their gun ban making it a regulation. The next step is presenting the move to the university's Board of Visitors.
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