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gthaustex wrote:So, I was looking through the proposed changes to the Penal Code with regards to current law, open carry, etc. and noticed something in SB17 that bothers me. Maybe I am misreading it (I hope I am) but the way the text reads, it appears to not only make open carry on college campuses illegal, but also do the same for concealed carry. I know that concealed carry is currently illegal on the premises (read buildings, portion of a building, etc.), but streets, walkways, are currently OK for concealed carry. It appears that Section a-1 says no open carry on campus at all, as it mentions premise and then outlines streets, driveways, etc. The part I am talking about is Section a-2, which seems to imply that concealed carry is also illegal, not only on premises, but everywhere else as well on a campus of higher learning. Is this a bone being thrown in to try and get open carry passed at the expense of something else? Or does a-2 get overridden by another section that I have missed??

The text I am seeing reads as follows:

(a) A license holder commits an offense if the license holder carries a handgun on or about the license holder ’s person under the authority of Subchapter H, Chapter 411, Government Code, and intentionally displays the handgun in plain view of another person in a public place. It is an exception to the application of this subsection that the handgun was partially or wholly visible but was carried in a shoulder or belt holster by the license holder.

(a-1) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), a license holder commits an offense if the license holder carries a partially or wholly visible handgun, regardless of whether the handgun is holstered, on or about the license holder’s person under the authority of Subchapter H, Chapter 411, Government Code, and intentionally or knowingly displays the handgun in plain view of
another person:
(1) on the premises of an institution of higher education or private or independent institution of higher education; or
(2) on any public or private driveway, street, sidewalk or walkway, parking lot, parking garage, or other parking area of an institution of higher education or private or
independent institution of higher education.

(a-2) Subsection (a-1) does not authorize a license holder to carry a concealed handgun at a location described by that subsection.

If the above stated Subsection (a-1-1), then I would be more OK with it, as that would be the same as it is now....as it is, it appears to include both sections of (a-1), which to me read no guns on campus anywhere, including streets. In my experience, some places are clearly on campus, in the middle of academic buildings or in a quad. But what about major streets that pass through a campus, such as San Jacinto or Dean Keeton in downtown Austin??