Governor Greg Abbott signed two bills June 13, the first allowing licensed holders to openly carry their firearms in most public places and the second, Senate Bill 11, allowing licensed holders to carry concealed handguns on public college campuses.
In an email, University President Jesse Rogers said administration will use the time until the Aug. 1, 2016 implementation deadline to formulate a plan for the campus.
“Our paramount concern will be campus safety and we will fully consult with the staff, students, faculty, campus police, and other universities to develop provisions that comply with this new law,” Rogers wrote in the email.
Dan Williams, chief of police, said administrators will meet this summer to discuss the plan for the campus. Williams said part of this plan will include deciding where on campus guns will be limited.
“We will definitely be talking with faculty, students, and staff [about these areas],” Williams said. “We just want to make sure that if people do carry on campus that it’s done in a safe and appropriate manner and they don’t do something stupid and put themselves at risk or someone else.”
Williams said his top priority is to maintain general safety, especially because of the presence of drugs, alcohol and mental health issues on college campuses.
“Mental health tends to show up in people in their early to mid twenties, which we have a lot of that age group on campus,” Williams said. “In the five years that I’ve been here, the number of students that our behavioral intervention team deals with has increased considerably.”
Whatever the outcome of the planning meetings, Williams said the law is in place and they will follow it accordingly.
Senate Bill 11 was filed Jan. 26, passed the Senate March 19 and passed the House March 27. Brian Birdwell, district 22 representative, authored the bill. Wichita County’s senator, Craig Estes, and house representative, James B. Frank, both voted to approve the bill.
Further reading:
Texas legislature files bill concerning concealed carry on university campuses
