Faculty members at the University of Houston are clearly concerned about students being able to bring guns to class, an option that will come to fruition this summer when a new state law permitting students at public universities in Texas to carry concealed weapons on campus takes effect.
Guns, once banned from Texas universities under previous concealed handgun laws, will be allowed in classrooms across the state starting Aug. 1 after the Republican-majority Legislature voted in favor of allowing licensed gun owners to carry their weapons on campus.
A recent faculty forum a the University of Houston focused on the impacts of the controversial law and offered advice for teachers on how to avoid confrontation with armed students.
"You may want to: Be careful discussing sensitive topics; Drop certain topics from your curriculum; Not 'go there’ if you sense anger; Limit student hours of access," stated a slide shown during the meeting.
The information session was not put on by the university administration but by an independent group of professors. A Ph.D. student shared a photo the presentation made during the event.
Slide from recent campus carry dialogue at UH, in response to faculty concerns about dangers from armed students: pic.twitter.com/610RyhDZlf— Jeff (@JeffintheBowtie) February 22, 2016
The reality of the new legislation is weighing heavy on administrators as well. Last week, University of Texas President Greg Fenves said in a statement that the decisions he had to make to ensure his university was compliant with the law were difficult for him personally.
"I do not believe handguns belong on a university campus, so this decision has been the greatest challenge of my presidency to date. I empathize with the many faculty members, staffers, students and parents of students who signed petitions, sent emails and letters, and organized to ban guns from campus and especially classrooms," wrote Fenves. "As a professor, I understand the deep concerns raised by so many. However, as president, I have an obligation to uphold the law."
The bill will allow public universities to designate some gun-free zones as long as it didn't result in a campus-wide ban. In Texas, a person must be 21 years old in most cases to get a gun license, and while licensed students will be allowed to bring their handguns to class, they won't be able to do so openly.
A separate law that allows the open carry of handguns doesn't apply to college campuses.
Deciding the campus carry policies has been the most difficult decision of my presidency. Please read the details: https://t.co/zs8uwNrrL6— Greg Fenves (@gregfenves) February 17, 2016
Many of Texas' private colleges have responded to the bill, which does not apply to them, by saying they plan to continue a ban on guns on campus.
More than 20 private schools, including the state's largest private universities have said they won't lift their gun bans when the public university law takes effect this August.
Baylor, Texas Christian and Southern Methodist universities have all declined to allow guns on their campuses.
"My own view is that it is a very unwise public policy," Baylor President Ken Starr, a former prosecutor and judge best known for his work on the Whitewater investigation involving President Bill Clinton, said late last year. The Baptist school announced this month that guns would not be allowed on campus.
The Texas laws are just the beginning of a handful of campus carry bills that are making their way through state legislatures.
In Georgia, state lawmakers took the first step on Monday to institute similar campus carry laws. The state House voted in favor of a bill, informally called the Campus Safety Act, that would allow anyone 21 or older with a weapons license to carry a gun anywhere on a public college or university campus, except inside dormitories, fraternities and sorority houses, and at athletic events.
Additional reporting by the Associated Press.