Texas Campus-Carry Law Goes into Effect

The law, which caused various groups to file petitions and lawsuits, grants anyone over the age of 21, with a concealed handgun license, permission to carry a gun on campus with the exception of residence halls, child care centers and ticketed sporting events.

Changes are coming to Texas Tech starting Monday, as Senate Bill 11, otherwise known as Campus Carry, officially goes into effect.

“If people are mistaken and had this handgun with them when they don’t realize it’s not allowed here, then other people are not automatically going to think ‘oh, that person is definitely confused and they are just not aware of the policy here, ‘” said Winkle.

“Why is it OK for a student go to a movie theater on a Friday, a mall on Saturday and church on Sunday, and carry a concealed weapon, but when they get to school on Monday, they can not?”

“It is a ceremony to remember the victims and the entire campus that was affected”, he said. Just in case a weapon is accidentally discharged, the school wants to make sure it’s not in a lab with risky chemicals.

Basically, the real work here has been getting signs ready for the appropriate locations and communicating with students and staff about what their options are.

“I ask you to join me in taking a vow”, she said, “to treasure the ones we walk with each moment”. “The campus carry committee does understand and recognize there is a diversity of opinions on this and we take all of those into consideration when we’re dealing with issues”.

So far, the cost of all of this isn’t “exorbitant”, as Harkins puts it. Although, final costs haven’t been tallied, yet.

“Students unfamiliar with guns may find [campus carry] a stressful experience”. Opponents of the law point to the private schools’ resistance to opting in as a sign that it’s a bad law.

The board struck down a rule requiring that semiautomatic handguns be carried without a chambered round of ammunition.

And now, there are legal costs.

Three UT-Austin professors have sued to block the law completely, saying it will hamper the free exchange of ideas.

UHPD said they expect the drop off and pick up procedures to take 5 minutes each time. “And, so, a lot of us are against this policy”. This means students, faculty and staff can store handguns overnight. It has come to be accepted as the nation’s first mass shooting, with 17 deaths attributed to him.

Students who support the law say Campus Carry could stop a gunman to prevent another school shooting or at least reduce the number of fatalities.

The controversial law created an outrage from students and teachers alike that sparked protests from UTEP to UT Austin. “It turns a risky situation into a huge gunfight”.

In fact, I was raised by a single mother who despised guns, in Carrollton, Texas, a relatively peaceful suburb of Dallas.

The memory of this impromptu cavalry is used by gun rights advocates to argue that armed citizens are the best defense against mass shootings. Guns on campus must be concealed at all times on campus, and university officials are still encouraging people to call police if they see someone with a gun.

Adam Redmer, who is also a student at UT Austin, says these fears are overblown anyway.

“The reason there is a difference between public and private universities is it’s the people of state of Texas that own the University of Texas System”, Birdwell said. The former dean of the University of Texas School of Architecture left for a position at the University of Pennsylvania because of his opposition to allowing guns on campus.