The University of Colorado will soon make it legal for students and visitors to carry concealed firearms on its campuses.

Binghamton University officials say they would be wary of imposing a similar regulation.

“I would be very concerned if New York state allowed concealed weapons on any educational property,” Milton Chester, assistant dean of students and director of the Office of Student Conduct, said.

Chester added that if a student was found with a gun on campus, it would be taken very seriously.

On April 15, the Colorado Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, an on-campus gun rights organization. The ruling supported SCCC, which argued that the University was violating state gun laws under the Concealed Carry Act of 2003.

Until this ruling, weapons had been banned on the University’s four campuses since 1970, according to Ken McConnellogue, associate vice president for university relations at the University of Colorado.

In New York state, carrying a concealed firearm on campus would be treated as a class A misdemeanor. Possession of certain knives, guns and weapons is considered criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree, under New York State Penal Law.

According to the Rules of Student Conduct at BU, possession of weapons on campus is prohibited. Weapons include, but are not limited to, rifles, shutguns, pistols, revolvers or other √ÉØ√¨√Årearms or weapons.

Deputy Chief Timothy Faughnan of Binghamton University’s New York State University Police said University police encounters around 10 violation incidents on campus involving firearms and weapons every year.

“Firearms are not something to be taken lightly,” Faughnan said. He said that a person with a gun has the capacity to inflict fatal harm.

Faughnan said there are different sections of New York state law concerning weapons such as brass knuckles and knives. Gravity knives and switchblades are illegal in New York state, but other types of knives are legal to be possessed, depending on how they are used.

McConnellogue said the ruling on the case has brought a variety of reactions on the University of Colorado campuses. “There are mixed feelings among the students, even though it was a student group that brought the lawsuit,” McConnellogue said.

Matt Maley, a freshman majoring in human development at BU, said that he would feel uneasy if concealed weapons were allowed on BU’s campus.

“I think it would be a threatening idea,” he said. “It would put the well-being of the faculty and students at risk.”