UT group releases campus carry recommendations
The Campus Carry Police Working Group at The University of Texas at Austin has submitted its 25 recommendations to UT President Gregory Fenves for implementing the Senate Bill 11, the state's campus carry law.
The 19 member group hosted public hearings and reviewed more than 3,300 online survey responses It met weekly throughout the fall semester and released its report after three months.
The group looked at how handguns must be carried stored, where they may not be carried, implementation measures and proactive measures UT should take.
Among the group's recommendations:
- License holders who carry a handgun on campus must carry it on or about their person at all times or secure it in a locked motor vehicle. Handguns — including those in backpacks and handbags — must be carried in a holster that meets specified standards.
- Handguns will generally not be permitted in on-campus dormitories, where few students are older than 21 (the minimum age required for a permit) and some are younger than 18. Parents who have a license, however, will be permitted to carry a concealed handgun while visiting their children.
- University employees who have a single-occupant office will be able to determine whether to allow handguns in those spaces.
- Handguns will not be permitted at campus health centers, child care facilities, certain laboratories, pre-K through 12 school-sponsored activities on campus and university-sponsored campus programs for minors, among other venues. State law already prohibits them at ticketed collegiate sporting events.
You can read the full report here (pdf).
The group says it has deep concerns about allowing handguns in classrooms but concluded it could not recommend that handguns be banned.
Fenves will use these recommendations to develop final rules for implementing the law on campus. He will then send them to the University of Texas System and report to the Legislature. SB 11 gives university presidents the authority to develop campus specific rules although UT System regents can amend or reject them with a two-thirds vote.
The full press release from the University of Texas can be found here.