It appears that so-called “rights” supersede logic in our neighbor-state to the east.

Idaho legislators have taken a massive step in a highly unsettling direction by allowing students with concealed weapons licenses to carry guns on the state’s university and college campuses.

Despite Idaho’s reputation as a conservative state, this comes as a shock.

At a public hearing for the bill, an NRA representative was given nearly 40 minutes to expound on the virtues of more on-campus artillery. Can you guess how much time was allotted for Boise Police Chief Michael Masterson, who publicly expressed grave concerns about the bill? None, of course.

The legislation does not – for whatever it’s worth – allow anyone to carry any weapon in areas that seat 1,000 or more people. To continue in the small conciliation vein, only those who are at least 21 years old can obtain the type of license afforded in the bill.

Nonetheless, with the passing of this bill come many frightening considerations. Professors who have dealt student confrontation over poor grades might now worry how far those confrontations will escalate.

Some instructors at the University of Idaho have requested permission to hold their classes in the Kibbie Dome – which houses the school’s track and bleachers – both to take advantage of the loophole and as a partial protest. Others have chosen to completely cancel all office hours, according to a retired professor at both UI and WSU who requested anonymity for this column.

While professors can tell students to spit out their gum, they are nearly barred from asking that guns be left outside the classroom. Those who post such a sign may face a lawsuit from the national advocacy group Students for Concealed Carry, says Daniel Page, their associate director of legal research.

It might come as a shock that Students for Concealed Carry, which started at the University of Iowa, has attracted nearly 43,000 members nationwide. But UI has taken it a step further by deciding not to arm its security guards. That’s right: It’s simply not necessary, say UI administrators, as Moscow police can respond quickly enough to incidents on campus.

Apparently, by the same argument that other leaders of Idaho public schools made – that more weapons on campus are unwanted and unnecessary – UI will keep guns out of the hands of those tasked with keeping the campus safe.

How will allowing students to carry guns without an increase in security make Idaho campuses safer?

UI administrators are “proud of their safety record” said Matt Dorschel, the executive director of the university’s public safety and security, in an interview with KLEW-TV. Note that this record was established before students could bring their guns to class.

Washingtonians can be thankful state policy dictates no weapons are allowed on any campus or in any university housing. We also can be thankful for the presence of WSU’s own police department.

Time will tell whether the guns-on-campus approach will alleviate a morbid national problem or produce a threatening atmosphere, but if a single incident occurs we must ask: When will one incident, one life lost, be enough to inspire real change?