The new law allowing licensed carriers of concealed weapons to bring their guns into campus buildings is now in effect at public universities. Private schools were statutorily allowed to opt out, and all privates have done so except one, Amberton University in Garland.
Most of the salient points regarding the law have been reported here, but it's beneficial to see them summarized in a concise article. Please have a look at this piece by Matthew Watkins, in the Texas Tribune, which contains links for further information.
Since community colleges have an extra year before full implementation, the experience at universities over the next few months may be instructive. However, two-year schools are more likely to enroll students who are 21 or over and consequently may have a higher proportion of carriers than, say, UT-Austin, while UT has been ground zero for protests and professors have sued to revoke the law. Community colleges are less likely to have dormitories, which is another point of contention regarding "gun-free" zones under the statute (although, if you think about it, most students over 21 are unlikely to live in dorms). Some community colleges are very small, with limited financial resources available for security adjustments. So there are differences to be taken into account.
TCCTA will continue to ask, as the next Regular Session approaches, that the law be amended to allow each college to determine locally whether to allow guns on campus. Please communicate this view to candidates for the House and Senate and report any responses to the TCCTA state office.
One aspect of the law that has not been covered here is that Texas is not alone in this policy. You will find a nice map of the states that presently allow guns on campus in the Tribune article. It's always tempting to make judgments about the cultural differences among states (note the western region compared to the East), but this point can be carried too far. Texas is the state with the largest population of those allowing guns on campus, so its impact here may have additional statistical relevance.
You will likely see more media coverage of this issue when the fall semester begins and students start to arrive in large numbers.
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