Texas lawmakers pass bill allowing guns on college campuses
Students and staff at public and private universities in the US state of Texas could soon be allowed to carry concealed handguns into classrooms after lawmakers passed a controversial bill over the weekend.
Gun rights advocates have hailed the legislation as a victory, but most of the students and professors have denounced the measure as unnecessary and irresponsible.
The bill now sits on the desk of Governor Greg Abbott, who has said he will sign the measure, which is known as the “campus-carry” bill.
The governor has until June 21 to sign it. If he does, it would take effect in August next year at universities and August 2017 at community colleges, according to the New York Times.
The state House of Representatives passed the controversial legislation on Sunday, amid pleas of several Democrats who criticized it.
“Texas has got to get past its obsession with guns and start placing its resources on our students and institutions,” said state Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Houston. “This should not be the banner headline from this legislative session.”
Critics of the controversial move say that allowing guns on college campuses will have a negative effect on schools, including professors who say they would be nervous to have private meetings with armed students.
Each year, more than 32,000 people die as a consequence of gun-related violence, suicides, and accidents in the United States, which is by far the highest among industrialized countries, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A non-profit website called Gun Violence Archive has recorded over 6,450 gun incidents in the country in 2015. According to the website, nearly 1,890 people have lost their lives to firearms so far this year.
Weak gun laws that allow for some criminals to possess firearms legally are contributing to the high rate of gun violence in the US, according to a study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Since December 2012 - when twenty children and six adults were fatally shot by a gunman at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut - President Barack Obama has pushed for gun law reforms, including expanded background checks and a ban on high-capacity magazines.
But, the powerful gun lobby and its supporters in Congress have blocked the proposed measures.
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