As of Monday, some Texas college students could be carrying more than textbooks in their bags.
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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 state’s controversial “campus carry” law allows students who are at least 21 years old and who have a concealed handgun license to carry their guns at all public colleges and universities. However, there are certain areas of ASU that will remain gun-free, such as sporting event arenas, the counseling center and laboratories with certain chemicals, among others.
Last July, three University of Texas at Austin professors filed a lawsuit against their university and the state, arguing that the new campus carry law would represent a a violation of the constituion and an assault on academic freedom.
Until Senate Bill 11 goes into effect for community colleges on that date, firearms are not permitted at any Blinn College location regardless of whether they are carried openly or concealed, or whether the individual has a concealed handgun license. The massacre is one of the deadliest mass shootings in American history.
The campus-carry law pushed by Gov. Greg Abbott and the Republican legislative majority makes Texas one of a handful of states guaranteeing the right to carry concealed handguns on campus.
In addition to Texas, eight states allow concealed carry on campus. “I empathize with the many faculty members, staffers, students and parents of students who signed petitions, sent emails and letters, and organized to ban guns from campus and especially classrooms”.
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.
Campus carry became the law of the land in Texas on Monday.
The shootings were one of the defining events of the time and were considered to be the first USA mass shootings to be seen live on national TV. “We weren’t used to that”.
“During orientations we are making our students, our new students and their parents aware of what the rules and regulations are on our campus of where those are excluded”, Gaynor said.
NPR’s John Burnett reports for our Newscast Desk that it was the deadliest university shooting until Virginia Tech in 2007, when a college senior killed 32 people. But, in general, guns will be allowed in classrooms and student unions. The drumbeat played on over the years, including the murder of 10 and injuring of 9 at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon. As he and other officers were climbing up to the tower’s observation deck, some students on the ground attempted to pick off the sniper using hunting rifles.
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“Our job means we sometimes have to confront students about uncomfortable issues”, Vickery said, adding “If a student feels the need to bring a gun into my office, I do not know how else to interpret that other than they view me as a threat”. “Some are unstable and we don’t know who has a gun”.
