PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Is Rhode Island the only state in the country that doesn't permit its campus police to carry guns?
That claim has been made repeatedly in the ongoing debate over whether to arm officers at the University of Rhode Island, Rhode Island College and the Community College of Rhode Island.
PolitiFact Rhode Island examined the claim in 2011, when then-State Sen. Glenford Shibley said Rhode Island was the only state where campus police "carry out their duties unarmed."
We ruled it Mostly True because, at the time, campus police in Oregon were also unarmed. (That state's Board of Higher Education had approved a measure allowing them to carry guns, but it hadn't yet been implemented.)
We decided to check with Oregon to see whether campus police have gotten their guns.
The short answer: not yet.
Kelly McIver, public information officer for the University of Oregon Police Department, told us Thursday the issue is still under consideration. The earliest it could be addressed is June 21, if the university president chooses to make the request to the board, McIver said.
Bottom line: Rhode Island is still not the only state where campus police are unarmed. There's one other -- Oregon.