The University of Delaware will no longer give student organizations funding for guns and ammunition, after an allocation to a pro-gun group caused controversy.
The school changed its Allocation Board policy this week to include language stating that groups couldn't request funding for things that conflict with the school's code of conduct, according to a university spokeswoman.
Guns and ammunition are among items not allowed on campus. But until now, the Allocation Board policy didn't mention weapons.
That allowed Students for the Second Amendment to get about $500 to buy ammunition in December.
Group spokesman Matthew Tuszynski, a senior, thinks the school changed the rules after some on campus were upset by their allocation. It was used to buy ammo for use at a private gun range.
"It was a little disheartening, because I was hoping they'd at least come to us, talk to us a little bit, explain themselves," he says. "After approving it, it seems that the got caught off guard so much that the minute they approved us, they were thinking of ways to take it away."
Tuszynski says their ammunition was used and stored off-campus as per school rules. But some students still felt the allocation contradicted the school's apparent philosophy on guns.
Tuszynski says that skepticism comes with the academic environment, saying his group was viewed as "taboo" when it was founded a year and a half ago.
"We do have those people in the school who aren't used to guns, who've never grown around them, who don't really understand them," he says. "That's actually great, because a lot of them are coming to our club, and we get to teach them how to shoot, and they never had that opportunity in their life to be able to learn how to safely operate a firearm."
And he adds that they've had plenty of support from hunters, gun advocates and organizations in greater Delaware since the funding change went through.
He notes the firing range isn't the only thing they do -- they also bring speakers to campus and conduct gun safety trainings.
His group is weighing options to get the policy change reversed.
