What do Kansas University students, faculty and staff think about the prospect of allowing concealed firearms on campus?

Students now are being surveyed on that question, but the school’s University Senate already is talking about fighting the new law, which is set to be implemented on state university campuses in July 2017.

The bigger question may be: Do the opinions of students, faculty and staff — the people who occupy KU’s campus day in and day out — really matter?

The law legalizing concealed carry in most public buildings went into effect in 2013, but universities received an exemption until July 2017. With that deadline looming, discussions about concealed firearms are heating up at KU and other university campuses. Last week, the Kansas Board of Regents released an amended draft policy on weapons and is seeking feedback across the state.

Informal reactions to the new law have been overwhelmingly negative at KU. At their meeting last week, members of the University Senate expressed fear about the impact of the law and discussed ways to express their displeasure to state legislators. Last week, the Board of Regents’ Students Advisory Committee emailed a survey to students at all state universities asking such questions as “Do you think concealed guns should be prohibited or allowed in campus buildings, at sporting events or in outdoor areas?” and “How would allowing concealed carry on your campus affect your decision to attend this university?” The committee hopes that having solid data on student opinions will strengthen their case to modify the new law.

The Board of Regents is in the middle on this debate. Its policy clarifies the provisions of the law and sets standards for secure gun storage, but the job of drawing up specific policies is left to individual universities. The board has no power to modify or repeal the concealed-carry law passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor.

Lawmakers weren’t particularly interested in what university officials thought about concealed carry when they passed this law, and they probably aren’t very interested now.

It seems like a long shot that state universities will have much impact on the extension of concealed carry to their campuses, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t make their voices heard.