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CU student faces charges over guns in dorm

Bill Scanlon, Rocky Mountain News

Published April 21, 2007 at midnight

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BOULDER - A University of Colorado student spent a night in jail for allegedly having a handgun, a shotgun, hundreds of rounds of ammunition and a 12-inch-long knife in his dorm room.

Matthew Furnish, 20, faces five charges, including unlawful possession of deadly weapons on campus.

His father, Chris, posted $2,000 bond Friday afternoon and Matthew was released, with orders not to show up on campus. Earlier in the day, CU suspended Furnish.

"He's a good kid," Chris Furnish said. "He had an attack of the stupids."

An anonymous tip led CU police to Furnish's room at Kittredge West Residence Hall. Furnish agreed to a search, which police said turned up a Glock .40-caliber handgun, a Remington 12-gauge shotgun, the knife and the ammunition.

CU bans weapons from campus unless carried by a law enforcement officer. Students are allowed to store hunting weapons in a special locker supervised by police.

Furnish had registered and stored a rifle with police, but that didn't mean it was OK for him to have weapons in his room, CU police say. The weapons found in the dorm room had not been registered with police, the university said.

CU police chief Joe Roy said the tipster did the right thing.

Furnish apparently never threatened violence, and his weapons weren't loaded at the time of the seizure, police said. The shotgun was disassembled and the handgun had a safety lock engaged.

In addition to the two charges of unlawful possession of deadly weapons, which are felonies, Furnish faces three misdemeanor charges of unlawful conduct on public property.

He'll appear in court Tuesday afternoon.

CU sent an e-mail Friday to dorm residents, advising them of the no-weapons rule and telling them if they have anxiety or fear, counselors are available, spokesman Bronson Hilliard said.

"There have been a number of these strange incidents in the wake of Virginia Tech," Hilliard said, referring to the rampage this week in which a student killed 32 others and himself. "We got this from a tip. That's a good indicator that students are attuned to what's going on and are being extra alert."