Dive Brief:
- Baylor University President and Chancellor Ken Starr told a gathering Monday he had “little doubt” the university would opt out of Texas’ campus carry law, using its freedom to do so as a private institution.
- The law goes into effect Aug. 1, when public institutions must be ready to allow guns on campus, but The Texas Tribune reports private schools including Texas Christian University, Paul Quinn College, Trinity University, and Southern Methodist University have either hinted or declared that they, too, will opt out.
- The legislation allows public schools to declare gun-free zones on certain portions of their campuses, but legislators remain committed to ensuring these zones do not get used to create a more general ban.
Dive Insight:
Concealed carry on Texas college campuses has been legal for decades, but the new legislation would require colleges and universities to allow the practice inside campus buildings as well. The bill’s sponsors have indicated that an acceptable location for a gun-free zone includes labs with dangerous chemicals, not the more general “classrooms” or “academic buildings.”
The law has caused strain on public campuses across the state as it has become clear these colleges and universities likely will not be able to get out of allowing guns in many campus buildings. At least one faculty member has resigned over safety concerns.