Texas may allow guns on campus
By Jon Swaine, The Telegraph February 22, 2011 2:02 AM
Universities in Texas could be forced to allow students and staff to carry guns on campus in a victory for a firearms lobby, despite last month's killings in Arizona.
A new law that looks certain to pass through the Texas legislature would mean that its 38 public colleges, which are attended by 500,000 students, must permit concealed handguns on site. It would become only the second state, alongside Utah, to compel the institutions to do so.
More than 20 states have rejected similar proposals introduced since the Virginia Tech massacre in April 2007. A student there killed 32 people, and the following year five people were murdered at a university in Northern Illinois.
Six weeks ago, six people were killed and 13 wounded, including Gabrielle Giffords, a U.S. congresswoman, during a shooting spree in a supermarket parking lot in Tucson, Ariz.
At present, colleges in Texas -together with churches and businesses -are free to ban firearms from their premises. Guns are banned from university buildings, dormitories and grounds.
A group campaigning against the measure, Texas for Gun-free Schools, said it was supported by only one in four Texans and just 15 per cent of students.
More than 20 states have rejected similar proposals introduced since the Virginia Tech massacre in April 2007. A student there killed 32 people, and the following year five people were murdered at a university in Northern Illinois.
Six weeks ago, six people were killed and 13 wounded, including Gabrielle Giffords, a U.S. congresswoman, during a shooting spree in a supermarket parking lot in Tucson, Ariz.
At present, colleges in Texas -together with churches and businesses -are free to ban firearms from their premises. Guns are banned from university buildings, dormitories and grounds.
A group campaigning against the measure, Texas for Gun-free Schools, said it was supported by only one in four Texans and just 15 per cent of students.
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