Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, rejected senior Liam Nuhring's application for a NRA-affiliated student group. Nuhring's request was denied because the college supports gun control, a direct conflict of the student group's mission statement.
"This is something we all saw coming. It wasn't a surprise by any means," Nuhring told Inform."It's a controversial thing, that's for sure."
The denial came after Nuhring spent six months coordinating with the college and the NRA. According to Nuhring, around 50 students are interested in joining the group once it becomes officially recognized by the university. Via Inform:
Student Engagement ultimately told Nuhring no and cited what the student handbook states about new student organizations not conflicting with the values or principles of Concordia and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
The church's policy calls for strict gun control laws, such as policies controlling manufacturing, importing, exporting firearms and overall personal use of guns. Their only exception is for military, law enforcement and hunting. The church adopted the policy in 1993.
The controversy is arising because the NRA has supported campus carry. According to Nuhring, his group isn't advocating for campus carry, but rather firearms education.
Nuhring plans to drop the NRA from the group's name before resubmitting the application. The problem with doing that, he says, is the club could lose funding from the NRA. Since news of this rejection, Nurhing mentioned that he has received offers of blank checks and pro bono legal services.