The Texas Legislature may soon allow students to carry concealed firearms on the state’s university campuses, state news reports indicate.
If passed, Texas would be the second state after Utah to remove restrictions that prevent faculty and students with concealed-carry licenses from bringing their guns to school.
Proponents have historically argued guns would allow students and teachers to defend themselves from shooters. Opponents argue such a law would only contribute to fear and danger on campus.
Louisiana has flirted with similar legislation for years. Rep. Ernest Wooton, I-Belle Chasse, proposed a campus gun law in the 2008 legislative session, the year after a shooting on Virginia Tech’s campus left 33 dead.
The bill passed the House committee he chaired but died on the House floor.
After the bill’s failure, Wooton promised to file similar legislation every year during his tenure, a promise he has fulfilled so far.
LSU’s campus itself also has a history of struggling with such legislation.
Student Government fiercely debated a bill that would have endorsed Wooton’s 2008 legislation. It passed the SG Senate after a tie-breaking vote by then-Senate speaker and president-elect Colorado Robertson but was vetoed by outgoing-president Cassie Alsfeld.
A similar bill in the 2009 session, proposed by current Senate Speaker Brooksie Bonvillain, failed to pass a Senate roll call vote. Opposing legislation, which would have encouraged the Legislature not to pass Wooton’s bill, also failed.
Chancellor Michael Martin expressed discomfort with allowing guns on campus during the 2009 effort.
“I have not figured out how having concealed weapons on campus will in any way improve … the safety of a university,” Martin said.
Martin’s complaints echoed those of many state higher education officials who said the bill was a bad idea.
 
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Contact Matthew Albright at [email protected]