Guns at school: Texas bill would allow concealed weapons on campus

AUSTIN, Texas—Texas could be the second state, following Utah, to allow students and faculty to carry concealed weapons on university campuses. The bill, currently in the legislature, is likely to pass as more than half the members of the Texas House have signed on as co-authors. The Senate passed a similar measure in 2009 and is expected to do so again, according to an article on Salon.com.

"It's strictly a matter of self-defense," state Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, told the publication. "I don't ever want to see repeated on a Texas college campus what happened at Virginia Tech, where some deranged, suicidal madman goes into a building and is able to pick off totally defenseless kids like sitting ducks."

However, the legislation has been controversial for university administrators. University of Texas President William Powers has opposed concealed handguns on campus, saying the mix of students, guns and campus parties is too volatile.

While Texas has had a concealed handgun law since 1995, which permits people 21 or older to carry weapons after passing a training course and a background check, businesses, schools and churches can set rules banning guns on their premises. On college campuses, guns are prohibited in buildings, dorms and certain grounds around them, according to the article.