Texas Universities Embrace Campus Carry

Texas Universities Embrace Campus Carry (Image: Linkis)

• Texas Universities are embracing campus carry and will allow guns on campus.
• The policy allows concealed carry permit holders to carry in classrooms and dorms.
• The policy takes effect August 1st, and it allows universities and colleges to set certain limits themselves.

Texas A&M University and the affiliated universities in its system have embraced campus carry and will allow guns on campus with “few major restrictions.”

The policy now formulated and “approved Chancellor John Sharp and A&M System legal staff” allows concealed carry permit holders to carry in classrooms and dorms. Exceptions will be dorms at Prairie View A&M, Texas A&M International University and A&M-Corpus Christi, each of which “ has dorms that are leased by third-party companies.”

Texas’ campus carry law–which takes effect August 1, 2016–allows public universities and colleges to set certain limits on where guns can be carried and allows private universities to opt out of campus carry altogether. For example, the University of Texas system plans to allow guns in classrooms but not in dormitories. Abilene’s Hardin-Simmons University nixed campus carry altogether.

But the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that A&M Chancellor Sharp approached the matter differently, making clear his belief that concealed permit holders, who carry responsibly in places other than school, will carry responsibly in school as well. Sharp said, “Do I trust my students, faculty and staff to work and live responsibly under the same laws at the university as they do at home? Of course, I do!”

The campus carry restrictions imposed by A&M are basically limited to “sporting events, child care facilities and places where student disciplinary hearings are held.” Outside of that, any facilities run by third parties will set their own rules and employees can ban guns from their school offices if they get special approval from the university president.

Source: Breitbart