A House measure that would require public universities to allow permit holders to carry concealed weapons on campuses across the state (House Bill 750, by Reps. Joe Driver, R-Garland, and Sid Miller, R-Stephenville) passed quickly out of the House Homeland Security & Public Safety Committee on March 16. However, Senate Bill 354, a similar measure by Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, was left pending in the Senate’s Criminal Justice Committee after much emotional testimony during a hearing March 22. Among those testifying against the measure – which would allow private institutions to ban concealed handguns on campus, but would not afford the same option to public campuses – was Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo, who said he felt that creating a “concentration” of armed people on a campus might make it harder for law enforcement personnel responding to calls on campus to “distinguish friendly armed persons from unfriendly armed persons.” He noted that in cases such as last fall’s incident at UT, when an armed person opened fire outside a campus library, private persons having guns might increase the chance of a friendly fire incident. At the least, in the interest of fairness, Acevedo said, the bill should allow public institutions the opportunity to opt out of allowing students, faculty, and staff to carry weapons on campus. At press time, the Criminal Justice Committee was likely to vote on the bill.
This article appears in Dome Sweet Dome.