As they say… read it and weep
Students and employees at Texas’ public universities arrived on campus Monday to a new reality: Concealed weapons are allowed nearly everywhere, provided carriers have a permit.
The state’s so-called campus carry law went into effect on Aug. 1, a development university administrators have been preparing for since legislators passed the law on June 1, 2015. Law professors had a hand in crafting the policies on where guns can and cannot be brought, having led related committees at the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Houston.
Most private universities in the state are opting out of campus carry—as the law allows—including Baylor University, Southern Methodist University, St. Mary’s University, each of which house law schools. The stand-alone Houston College of Law is also opting out.
Public universities don’t have that option, said Marcilynn Burke, an associate dean at the University of Houston Law Center who led the committee that proposed her university’s campus carry rules. Thus, the University of Texas School of Law; Texas Southern University Thurgood Marshall School of Law; Texas Tech University School of Law; Texas A&M University School of Law; the University of Houston Law Center; and the University of North Texas Dallas College of Law must now allow concealed weapons.
“When the Texas legislature passed this law, it said universities can establish reasonable rules governing the carrying of concealed weapons, which takes into account the special nature of university campuses,” Burke said. “But those rules and regulations may not amount to a general prohibition against concealed weapons. They’re looking for the carrying of concealed weapons to be allowed more often than not.”
Reaction to the prospect of guns on campus varies, administrators said. Concealed weapons were already allowed on university property before campus carry went into effect, but not in buildings. Openly carrying weapons is still prohibited on campus.
Texas A&M’s law school created an ad hoc committee of students and faculty to examine campus carry, said Aric Short, vice dean of the law school. “I haven’t heard any significant concerns from students about the law,” he said. “I have heard faculty and staff members voice differing perspectives on the law and its implementation, but no consistent concern has been voiced to me.”
It fell on the individual universities to carve out exemptions from the campus carry rule, though they have to provide reasons for any exemptions. In general, universities are banning concealed weapons from health care and counseling facilities, laboratories, places of worship, campus day cares and areas where school-aged children are present, locations where administrative or disciplinary hearings are occurring, stadiums and sporting events, as well as campus bars and restaurants that derive more than 50 percent of their revenue from alcohol sales. Many universities are designating one or two dormitories as open to concealed weapons carriers with the remaining exempt.
Exemptions on law campuses vary. Texas A&M is exempting clinical facilities across campus; thus, no guns will be allowed in the law school’s clinics, Short said. The universitywide exemption on guns at administrative hearings will also apply to the law school, which has a separate campus in Fort Worth.
Texas Tech’s law school has requested its clinical facilities be exempt, said university spokesman Chris Cook, and is awaiting a final decision. The university’s campus carry task force “will continue to meet regularly as this roles out,” he said. “We may not be able to anticipate everything.”
Clinics at the University of Texas School of Law won’t be exempt from campus carry, said spokesman Christopher Roberts, although the school will enact a temporary ban on occasions when judges visit to conduct judicial business, which occurs every few years.
The university’s Board of Regents decided to ban concealed weapons from the landmark tower at the Austin campus, where 50 years ago to the day, a sniper opened fire and killed 17 people. The university is allowing professors and staff who have their own offices to decide whether to permit guns, added campus spokesman Gary Susswein, and must verbally inform visitors if guns are not allowed.
The University of Houston won’t be letting professors decide about guns in their offices. “We don’t believe the law allows for it,” Burke said. Nor will the law school have any specific exemptions, though it will temporary exclude guns for formal grievance proceedings such as honor court. “That doesn’t include a student going to a professor to complain about a grade,” she said.
The University of Texas estimates that less than 1 percent of its students have concealed carry permits, given that permit holders must be at least 21 years old. It’s likely that about 1,400 University of Houston students have such permits, Burke said, since about 3 percent of Texans carry concealed weapons.
“That doesn’t mean that they’re actually going to carry on campus,” she said. “They may choose to leave it at home.”
