By ERIN MORRISON
erin@newsroom.byu.edu
An official from the Colorado Governor's office, who with evacuated students of Columbine High School shortly after the shootings, will address BYU students on Thursday about the impact of laws on schools.
Troy A. Eid accompanied Governor Bill Owens of Colorado to Leawood Elementary School after the shootings at Columbine High School on April 20 in Littleton, Colo., Leawood Elementary was where some high school students were evacuated to after the incident.
'He saw the horror of the situation and was working with victims,' said Thomas Lee, an associate professor of law.
Eid is one of the people most familiar with the legal situations of Columbine, he said.
Eid's speech is entitled 'Did the Law Cause Columbine?' and will focus on Supreme Court decisions that have a possible impact on school discipline, student rights and gun control, Lee said.
'Either by the Supreme Court's recognition of expansive free speech and due process rights for public school children, or by the legislative bodies' failure to enact more restrictive gun control legislation,' Lee said of the possible causes Eid will discuss.
Eid is the chief counsel to Governor Owens and directs the governor on legal advice. He is also a member of the Columbine Review Commission.
Eid is a member of Colorado's Federalist Society and his speech on Thursday in 303 JRCB at noon will be sponsored by BYU's chapter of the Federalist Society.
Hannah Smith, 26, from Sacramento, a second year law student, is the president of BYU's Federalist Society.
'Mr. Eid has been doing a lot of speaking recently on the Columbine shooting and its implications for gun control laws,' she said.
The speech will be a discussion of the second amendment right for private citizens to own guns and gun control, Smith said.
The Second Amendment states 'the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.'
Angie Covington, 22, a senior from Littleton, Colo., majoring in sociology, said although she did not attend Columbine High, she does not think the laws caused the incident at Columbine.
'Honestly, if kids are going to cause problems they're going to do it regardless of what the law is,' she said.
Becca Durrant, 19, a sophomore from Littleton, Colo., majoring in family science, said she does not think rules and laws can prevent shootings like Columbine's.
Durrant did not attend Columbine High either, but said she knows of some new rules now enforced at the schools in Littleton. Students are required to show identification, have their backpacks with them at all times and use certain doors, she said.
'The new rules are just ridiculous. All these rules wouldn't stop anything,' Durrant said.