Texas’s Campus Carry Law goes into effect on August 1, 2016. It changes state regulation of concealed carry, allowing—with some exceptions—students and faculty who have a concealed carry license to carry a concealed handgun on college and university campuses and in classrooms. Previously, the possession of a firearm had been prohibited on campus, with or without a permit.
And at least one professor isn’t happy about it.
“With a huge group of students, my perception is that the risk that a disgruntled student might bring a gun into the classroom and start shooting at me has been substantially enhanced by the concealed-carry law,” said Daniel Hamermesh, Professor Emeritus of economics at the University of Texas.
He went on to speculate about the impact the law might have on the university’s efforts to recruit new faculty.
“My guess is somebody thinking about coming to Texas is going to think twice about being a professor here,” Professor Hamermesh wrote in a letter to UT President Gregory Fenves. “It’s going to make it more difficult for Texas to compete in the market for faculty.”
Not all share Professor Hamermesh’s views however. Texas State Representative Allen Fletcher, author of the bill in question, has been vocal in his dissent. Representative Fletcher disputes the notion that criminals are deterred by gun-free zone laws: “The reality is that criminals will go into the classroom, as evidenced recently in Oregon’s gun free classroom, and do what criminals do – break the law.”
What actual effect it has on campus safety has yet to be seen.
