U.S. District Judge Dale A. Kimball made that ruling today following a joint request for dismissal made by the U and the Utah Attorney General's Office.
The request for the dismissal came after Gov. Jon Huntsman signed legislation Monday that allowed students to choose not to have roommates who hold concealed weapons permits.
The legislation represented a compromise between pro-gun legislators and higher education officials. A coalition of the staunchest gun-rights supporters and higher education officials met before and during the session to draft the compromise bill to end the standoff between the U. and the Legislature over concealed weapons.
Most universities had policies banning guns before a 2004 Utah law allowed those holding concealed weapons permits to carry guns on campuses and in other previously protected areas.
The University of Utah sued over the law and eventually lost in the Utah Supreme Court last fall.
The federal lawsuit remained active, but U. President Michael Young said he would drop it if the bill passed.
Originally, the bill would have allowed faculty to prohibit guns in their offices, but that provision was dropped in a last-minute effort to gain House support for the bill.
Even the weaker bill was good enough for Young.
"In my judgment, the faculty and staff offices provision that was amended out of the bill . . . would have had an overall negative impact on both the perception and reality of safety on campus," he said in a campuswide letter.
Young will appoint a committee of faculty, staff and students "to examine the issue of safety on campus from all perspectives, keeping in mind the paramount goal of providing a learning environment that permits vigorous discussion of controversial topics free from intimidation."
He will receive reports from the committee and take action where necessary.
