Certain licensed gun holders are now allowed to carry concealed handguns into Texas’ public college classrooms after a new law went into effect on Monday.
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With this law, Texas will become the 8th state to mandate that concealed handguns be allowed on public college campuses.
Three professors at the University of Texas sued July 6 to overturn the law, claiming it is unconstitutional and is forcing colleges to impose “dangerously-experimental gun policies”.
University professors were opposed to the bill, with some taking legal action but failing to prevent the bill from passing.
Neither did anyone else who gathered at the University of Texas to mark 50 years since Charles Whitman killed 16 people and wounded James and dozens of others from a perch atop the school’s clock tower. “I mean there should be a good guy standing around with a gun I guess”, said Keaton Denio, a Texas A&M Student.
University students and employees over age 21 can have guns in common areas, such as dormitories, dining halls and lounges.
Students on campus have varying opinions on the law, ranging from for to against and even indifferent. The legislation allowed public university presidents to designate “gun-free zones” on college campuses. Gun rights advocates consider it an important protection, given the constitutional right to bear arms, as well as a key self-defense measure in cases of campus violence, such as the 1966 UT shootings and the 2007 shootings at Virginia Tech.
33-year-old Jacqueline Vickery, an assistant professor of the University of North Texas, has joined other teachers warning that the new law could infringe on their ability to teach.
Last month, some higher education officials tried to block the law, saying it could have a chilling effect on academic freedom.
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Realistically, the licensing requirement will cause most college students to be ineligible to carry firearms on campus. The law does not allow for open carry on campus. Under that law colleges are also permitted to make their own rules for carry-prohibited areas. It goes on to say that it is irrational to claim the state can not treat public and private institutions differently, as it does this in countless other areas of the law. “There are so many students battling the stress of campus”, UT Austin junior Courtney Dang told Reuters.
