Texas new gun law allows concealed guns on campus
The US state of Texas has made it legal to carry guns on university campuses, a controversial decision also made by seven other states so far.
The decision was made Monday on the 50th anniversary of a deadly campus sniper rampage at the University of Texas at Austin in 1966 that claimed 14 lives.
The law allows students at each public university to have concealed weapons even in classrooms if aged 21 or above. However, it leaves it up to the universities to decide where on campus the weapons are permitted.
Private universities are exempt from the new law that is now in effect.
The University of Texas' president Gregory Fenves said the emotionally charged issue might be little noticed on campus.
"We have a very safe campus," Fenves said, "And I think that will continue."
Other states that have so far allowed concealed guns on campus include Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Mississippi, Oregon, Utah and Wisconsin. Eighteen states specifically ban the practice.
Critics of the law believe it is an ill-conceived solution that could trigger even more violence.
Three UT Austin professors believe that their free speech rights would be violated since students with guns would create a fearful atmosphere and stifle the open expression of ideas.
In an opinion piece published last week in the Dallas Morning News, Seema Yasmin, who teaches at a public university in Dallas, said, "I'm not scared of guns. I'm scared of this combination: term exam stress, undiagnosed mental illness and the ability to carry guns in university buildings."
The United States has been gripped by a surge in the number of deadly shootings over the past couple of years.
The government’s efforts to impose stricter gun control laws have proven futile.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has put the total number of domestic gun deaths at 1.5 million between 1968 and 2014.
According to the CDC, firearms are the cause of death for more than 33,000 people in the United States every year, a number that includes accidental discharge, murder and suicides.
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