The ban on owning and using mace at Pitt-Johnstown has been removed from the Student Code of Conduct, Student Affairs Vice President Shawn Brooks said.

“I wasn’t even aware of the fact that it (the policy) was there before I read the (mace) article,” Brooks said.

“So I started to figure out why that was.”

Brooks said he then learned that several parties were adversely affected by mace’s use on campus in the past.

“I think that led the conduct officers at the time to come up with this (ban), but this is a new day,” he said.

Brooks said he had personally spoken with several females on campus about the use of mace, and he thinks there is no reason to ban its use because it serves as a defensive measure.

He said the new policy had been updated on the university website’s code of conduct.

Senior Kayla Gongloff said she would buy mace if she felt there was a need to use it for personal safety concerns.

“I do know a lot of girls who have mace, like those small ones, on their keychain even though it was banned,” she said.

Sophomore business major Alex Sassaman said he personally does not have mace, but he thinks it is a good idea for people on campus to be allowed mace to avoid some dangerous situations.

“I don’t think (I would buy mace) because I don’t think I would get in a fight with anyone,” he said.