Tag Archives: Concealed Carry

Texas allows guns in college classrooms under new law

A student walks at the University of Texas campus in Austin, Texas, U.S. on June 23, 2016.

By Jon Herskovitz

AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) – A new law went into effect in Texas on Monday that allows certain students to bring guns into classrooms, with supporters saying it could prevent mass shootings and critics saying the measure will endanger safety on campuses.

The so-called state “campus carry” law allows people 21 and older with a concealed handgun license to carry pistols in classrooms and buildings throughout public colleges, including the University of Texas system, one of the nation’s largest with an enrollment of more than 214,000 students.

The law took effect on the 50th anniversary of one of the deadliest U.S. gun incidents on a college campus, when a student named Charles Whitman killed 16 people by firing from a perch atop the clock tower at the University of Texas at Austin, the state’s flagship public university.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican who supports campus carry, said a gunman could already bring a firearm on to campus, and the law could prevent mass shootings because someone with a licensed concealed weapon could be ready to confront a gunman.

“What campus carry does is that it only authorizes those who go through the special training and background” to carry firearms, he was quoted as saying by his office.

University of Texas professors lobbied unsuccessfully to prevent the law, arguing that the combination of youth, firearms and college life could make for a deadly situation. University President Gregory Fenves reluctantly allowed campus carry, saying he was compelled to do so under state law.

Last month, three professors sued to block the law, saying it could have a chilling effect on academic freedom. Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, said the law was constitutionally sound and he would defend it.

The law allows private colleges to opt out, and most of the state’s best-known private universities have done so, saying the measure runs counter to protecting student safety.

Eight states allow people to carry concealed weapons on public post-secondary campuses, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

At the University of Texas Austin campus, third-year student Courtney Dang said the idea of campus carry was scary.

“There are so many students battling the stress of campus. Some are unstable and we don’t know who has a gun,” said Dang.

(Editing by Bernadette Baum)

Interest in Concealed Carry Permits Hits New High after California Shootings

More Americans have performed Google searches for concealed carry permits this month than at any other point in the past 11 years, according to data published on the company’s website.

The spike in concealed carry permit searches comes in the wake of the Dec. 2 mass shooting that left 14 people dead and 21 more injured in San Bernardino, California. The husband-and-wife team of Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik opened fire during a holiday party for Farook’s coworkers in what President Barack Obama has declared an act of terrorism.

People who possess valid concealed carry permits can carry hidden handguns in public areas.

The previous all-time high for concealed carry searches came in December 2012, the month in which Adam Lanza killed 20 schoolchildren and six teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. The total concealed carry searches in that month were about 60 percent of what they were in the first 11 days of this month, according to Google Trends data.

There’s also been a documented rise in the number of people who actually obtain the permits.

The Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC) says that about 12.8 million Americans held concealed carry permits in July, nearly tripling the 4.6 million million who held such permits in 2007. The CPRC says that 1.7 million new concealed carry permits were issued in the past year alone, and the 15.4 percent year-over-year increase was the largest ever recorded in history.

Near the site of the shooting, some people wasted little time to get new concealed carry permits.

The Los Angeles Times reported that the San Bernardino County sheriff’s department received 75 applications for concealed carry permits the weekend following the shooting, which was seven times higher than usual. In neighboring Orange County, sheriff’s deputies told the newspaper that they received about 100 additional applications the weekend after the attack.

The news comes amid a new survey released Thursday by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) that found that 47 percent of Americans fear they or someone in their family will be the victim of a terrorist attack. That’s a 14 percent increase from one year ago. The PRRI survey also indicated 3 in 4 Americans said terrorism was a “critical issue” in the nation.

As permit interest surged, some were trying to prevent guns from falling into the wrong hands.

Connecticut’s governor, Dannel P. Malloy, said Thursday he would sign an executive order that prohibits selling firearms to anyone on a government watchlist. It still needs federal approval.