USC Officials Expect To Examine Gun Issue

USC officials expect to examine gun issue

Written by JOSEPH PERSON
jperson@thestate.com

Posted on 01.08.10

Marcy Girton has not seen the final agenda for next week's meeting of USC's athletics department management team, but she is certain the topic of guns and athletes will be discussed.

A day after news broke that Gamecocks football player and team captain Moe Brown had been arrested last summer on a gun charge that was later dropped, Girton said USC officials would study the gun issue after several recent incidents involving college and pro athletes.

"Handguns are the hot topic right now, so I would expect that we would address it," Girton, the deputy athletics director, said Thursday.

Girton said the gun-related arrests involving Tennessee football and men's basketball players - more so than Brown's situation - would be the conversation-starter at next week's meeting headed by athletics director Eric Hyman.

Tennessee athletics director Mike Hamilton said this week the school would adopt a zero-tolerance level for gun and drug-related incidents similar to those involving the Vols' athletes the past two months, according to The Knoxville News Sentinel.

UT dismissed two football players in November following an armed robbery attempt involving a pellet gun. Last week the school suspended four members of the nationally ranked men's basketball team who are facing drug, alcohol and weapons charges stemming from a traffic stop.

Girton said "when there's any type of incident that impacts other universities," USC's athletics administration discusses it to determine whether it needs to "add or expand to our current policies."

USC's athlete handbook contains no specific gun policy, although the code of conduct states that athletes will be expected to observe all state and federal laws. Another section of the handbook lists possession of weapons (guns and/or knives) as one of the four "fastest ways to be removed from university housing."

Hyman was out of town Thursday and unavailable for comment. But Girton said athletics officials might consider making handguns one of the highlighted topics in the 43-page handbook.

"Eric's practice is that we would review all polices and procedures and make sure we are doing everything we can to protect our student-athletes," Girton said.