Students aged 21 or over who have a concealed handgun permit may take guns into classrooms, under the new law.
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The Texas campus carry law went into effect on Monday night as Texas became the eighth state to enact such a law.
Many higher education officials and students expressed concern the law could discourage students from attending universities in the state.
And it takes effect on the 50th anniversary of the mass shooting atop the University of Texas clock-tower, timing that lawmakers call a coincidence.
As of Aug.1, a new state law now gives college students with concealed carry licenses permission to walk onto most Texas college campuses with their firearms.
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.
Antonia Okafor, who plans to carry at the UT Dallas campus next year, says nothing could be farther from the truth.
The law only allows concealed carrying of guns by people who have a license to carry. The professors said allowing guns in the classroom would stifle free speech by intimidation.
That’s for public schools, but for private universities they could opt out of the law. UT Austin professors can ban guns from their private offices, the university system’s regents decided last month. 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.
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 lawsuit also challenges claims that the law is protected by the Second Amendment right bear arms and says it violates the Constitutional equal protection clause.
Texas law requires handgun license holders to be 21 years old (18 if active military), have clean criminal records and pass classroom and gun range training, although training requirements have been reduced in recent years.
The new ruling allows public universities to carve out exclusion zones, but not to the point that it defeats the goal of the law.
“What could we have done to have lessened the number of people who were injured or killed?” said Ramiro Martinez, one of the former Austin police officers who helped take down the gunman.
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At the Austin campus, third-year graduate architecture student Rachel Warburton said she was against campus carry since it runs counter to the idea that a university should be open and safe for all.
