At Alabama, one of the team\u2019s best players allegedly delivered a gun that was used in a fatal shooting. At New Mexico State, a player avoided charges for shooting and killing a student in what he said was self-defense, even though he was carrying a gun in violation of school rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At Michigan State, sports were suspended<\/a> after gun violence on campus left three students dead. At LSU, the team\u2019s leading wide receiver was arrested<\/a>, but not charged, for carrying a gun through the French Quarter in New Orleans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The headlines over the past few months illustrate the challenge for athletic departments in determining how gun laws in their states and regulations at their schools should be applied to their programs and communicated to their players. An Associated Press analysis of more than a dozen schools in the NCAA tournaments shows a wide range of policies that govern guns at those schools and uneven efforts to regulate them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI have no idea,\u201d Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo told AP when asked what he should say to players who legally possess a gun. \u201cWhatever the law is, you can\u2019t supersede the law on your team or in your program.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mississippi State coach Chris Jans, when asked about his own team\u2019s gun policy: \u201cThat\u2019s a good question. Not sure I know the correct answer to that right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The NCAA has no gun policy on its books, calling it a law-enforcement issue. That means rules for sports teams, if they exist, are derived from a mixture of state laws, university policies and, in some cases, supplements to those policies in the student-athlete handbooks. In some instances, coaches implement their own team rules. But as cases across the country have shown \u2014 just in the past four months alone \u2014 there is confusion, mixed messages and what some perceive as seat-of-the-pants decision-making on issues that can have life-or-death consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marquette coach Shaka Smart said he\u2019s been \u201cyelled at by my superiors\u201d over the years when he brings up sensitive topics such as guns to his players. So, he says, he treads lightly on the subject.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNow, should you be driving around with a gun in your glove compartment or whatever?\u201d Smart said. \u201cI\u2019m not passing judgment on anyone anywhere else as it relates to that. But no, our players should not be doing that and I should not be doing that. And so I don\u2019t, and they don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Guns are prohibited in buildings<\/a> on the Marquette campus in Milwaukee. At Kansas State, concealed weapons are allowed on campus, so long as they are legally owned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe have to explain to them why we feel like one decision may be, in this moment in time, a little more prudent than another decision in another moment of their life,\u201d K-State coach Jerome Tang said. \u201cLike, later on in life, if they want to get a license, that\u2019s fine. But right now, in this moment, it may not be as wise for you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The AP\u2019s analysis found that in many instances, school policies differ from state to state, and sometimes from campus to campus within the same state. Most student-athlete handbooks simply reiterate school policy regarding weapons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Texas, open carry is not allowed at either the University of Houston or at the University of Texas in Austin, the site of a 1966 mass shooting from the clock tower on campus.<\/a> But concealed carry is allowed in some areas of each campus, the listings of which are available on the school websites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The NCAA bans guns on the premises of its championship events, presumably meaning the Final Four sites \u2014 in Dallas (women) and Houston (men) \u2014 will be gun free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Alabama, a state law that went into effect this year made it legal to openly carry a gun without a permit. Still, guns are prohibited on campus. Police say Alabama star Brandon Miller delivered a gun<\/a> to a teammate and another person who are charged with the Jan. 15 fatal shooting of 23-year-old Jamea Harris.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Miller has not been charged with a crime and has continued to play for his team, which is the overall top seed<\/a> in the tournament that gets into full swing Thursday. But the school\u2019s handling of Miller\u2019s status in the aftermath of the shooting underscores the confusion over the topic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There was more than a month between the killing and police testimony that Miller had brought the gun to his teammate, Darius Miles, who was removed from the team after he was charged, then later indicted<\/a>, in Harris\u2019 death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOur role in a criminal investigation is to support law enforcement, not to conduct our own investigation — and not to interfere with their efforts,\u201d athletic director Greg Byrne said in an ESPN interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n