Under the new law, which is backed by Republican lawmakers, guns will be allowed in more places at public universities; however, the institutions will get to choose where on campus they will be permitted.
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A campus-carry committee formed by the student body and staff was also created to suggest recommendations to ASU President Brian May.
Starting Monday, public universities in Texas will let certain licensed holders carry concealed handguns on campus.
Though University of Texas President Gregory Fenves was named as a defendant in the lawsuit, he’s spoken publicly about his opposition to guns on college campuses.
Private colleges can opt out of the law – many have done so, according to Reuters – while community or junior colleges have until 2017 to implement the law. Violators could face a fine up to $4,000 and up to a year in jail.
In commemoration of the tower shootings in 1966, when a UT student named Charles Whitman killed 14 people and left more than 30 wounded, the tower clock will be turned off at 11:48 a.m.
“We want students to be passionate about what they have to say. without worrying about whether someone’s going to pull a gun and shoot you”.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott supports the campus carry law. I was personally aware of at least two young ladies and a young man who carried concealed weapons in the early 1990s before concealed carry became legal anywhere in North Carolina (1995) because of the fear of human predators on and near campuses, and I’ve heard anecdotes of such stories dating back decades prior to that around the nation.
But the controversial new Texas campus carry law, passed by the legislature and signed by the governor past year, goes into effect August 1-on the 50th anniversary of the UT-Austin Tower shooting, where a gunman took 16 lives.
Fenves says his remarks later Monday afternoon at the UT Tower Garden re-dedication ceremony will be confined to the victims and survivors of the August 1, 1966 mass shooting.
Officials at the University of Texas oppose the law.
At the University of Houston, guns are off-limits in 22 buildings – including all dorms, health centers, places where children are present (like the daycare center), and at sporting events.
Fifty years ago, the UT community responded to this tragedy, the first mass shooting at a university, by trying to carry on with normal business. Graduate students are under a lot of stress, and then you give them guns? Some specific campus facilities, such as chemical labs and sports arenas, will remain gun free zones. “Obviously not. It means someone is wanting to protect themselves if something may happen”. She explained that it will bring more violence than prevent it. “I didn’t grow up in a home with guns, so I know what it’s like to think they’re scary”. And some of the most deadly have occurred on college campuses.
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Last month, three professors sued to block the law, saying it could have a chilling effect on academic freedom.
