While the circumstances and motive leading up to last week’s double fatal shooting at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs remain a mystery, the possession of a firearm by the alleged gunman on campus might not have violated university rules had he registered it.

Colorado Springs police arrested 25-year-old Nicholas Jordan on Monday in the shooting deaths of UCCS senior Samuel Knopp, 24, and Celie Rain Montgomery, 26, who did not attend the school, in an on-campus Alpine Village apartment. According to officials, Knopp and Montgomery suffered at least one gunshot wound each.

Jordan, who was Knopp’s roommate, is being held on a $5 million, cash-only bond. His next scheduled court appearance is Friday. 

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According to UCCS spokesperson Chris Valentine, members of the public are permitted to carry a concealed weapon on campus.

“We don’t really care about that,” Valentine said.

According to UCCS gun policy, students living on campus are allowed to keep firearms on campus if they have a valid concealed carry permit, as long as they register their permits with the school.

The UCCS website states that university officials must be kept informed on the statuses of students with concealed carry permits and abide by all state requirements. 

The most recent residential housing contract for the university states that students with a concealed carry permit residing in the Alpine Village apartments would need to get written consent from roommates to keep a firearm in the living space and provide a copy of the permit to the residence hall director. The contract also says that the firearm would need to remain concealed at all times while being stored in the apartments. 

According to the contract, firearms are not allowed at all in first-year housing. 

According to Valentine, at the time of the shooting Friday, there were no students on campus with an active concealed carry permit registered with university officials — meaning the presence of a firearm in the apartment would be a rules violation .

Details like who owned the weapon, or where it came from, have not been released by investigators. Jordan’s arrest affidavit was requested to be sealed prior to his arrest by Colorado Springs police and the 4th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, according to officials. It remains sealed for now, pending a ruling by the judge in the case.

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Other campuses

University of Colorado Boulder, CU Denver and the university’s Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora all abide by similar gun policies, recognizing the student’s right, per state law, to carry a concealed weapon if permitted to do so.

Colorado State University operates under similar policies, allowing students and faculty to carry a concealed firearm on its campuses in Fort Collins and Pueblo.

Colorado’s Concealed Carry Act, passed in 2003, allowed for concealed carry of firearms in all but a few locations statewide, and prohibited local governments from passing laws or rules to the contrary. The Board of Regents for the University of Colorado system (of which UCCS is a part) attempted to ban firearms on campus and all university buildings under the control of campus police. Three students in El Paso County, however, opposed the regents’ decision.

Operating as the group called Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, the three students sued the University of Colorado system, arguing the ban violated the Concealed Carry Act and the Colorado Constitution. In 2012, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled in favor of the group, saying the Concealed Carry Act was meant to apply statewide, including public colleges and universities.

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Pikes Peak State College, for example,  requires that individuals have a valid concealed carry license and register their weapon with campus police. 

Meanwhile, Colorado College, a private institution located near downtown Colorado Springs, has an active ban of firearms on campus.

According to CC’s website, “The possession or use of any weapon — including but not limited to firearms, ammunition, pellet guns, air guns, paintball guns, stun guns, tasers, smoke devices, bows/arrows, swords, large knives (defined as a knife with a 3.5-inch blade or longer), explosives, and fireworks — is prohibited on College property because of the potential for personal injury, theft, unauthorized use of such items, and disruptive impact on the College community.”