A new Texas law went into effect on Monday that allows people over the age of 21 and with a concealed handgun license to legally carry handguns on public college campuses.
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A new gun law has been introduced on the same day that marks 50 years since a sniper undertook a killing spree at Texas University.
The implementation of the law coincides with the 50th anniversary of the mass shooting at the University of Texas at Austin that left 14 people dead on campus and over 30 wounded. The policy has been controversial to say the least; it prompted a lawsuit from three University of Texas professors, who claimed that the law forces state schools to impose “overly-solicitous, dangerously-experimental gun policies” and violates the First and Second Amendments.
The campus, he said, now is like many other places across Texas, where licensed individuals can freely carry concealed handguns: “When you go to Wal-Mart, you don’t know how many people are carrying guns”. Some of the most deadly mass shootings in the USA have taken place in college campuses.
Many employees of the state’s universities and colleges opposed the law. The counseling center will not allow weapons inside as they often are working with students dealing with extreme stress or thoughts of suicide.
Texas is now one of eight USA states to allow concealed guns on college campuses.
The state of Texas, US will permit certain students to bring concealed guns to school from this week.
On Tuesday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a brief with the court, asking for the lawsuit to be dismissed. Monday was the first day of campus carry for the school.
University President, Dr. Melinda Reagan explains, “It’s not surprising that we are the only private university in Texas to do this, simply because the unique nature of our students”. Guns are mostly banned at dorms of the University of Texas-Austin, the University of Houston, Texas Tech University, Prairie View A&M, and Texas Southern University, according to the Texas Tribune.
Only time will tell whether lessons have been learned from that massacre or if the new gun law will only lead to further victims in America’s gun crisis. Some supporters of the law have said it could prevent a shooting from happening again. “But when my own LTC arrived in the mail-I opened the letter on the night of the Dallas police shootings-I realized that I now have this unbelievable tool to protect myself”.
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Opponents of the gun law have stated armed students could pose a danger to the campus community and actually impede police efforts should a mass shooting occur.
