CAMPUS CARRY: TIME CRITICAL ACTION ITEM!

[shawn]

Chas, please let us know if there is anything that we need to be doing. Everytime you say call or fax your rep I do... so let us know.

I personally am not effected either way by campus carry (until my kids go to college anyway) but am interesting in expanding CHL rights so I've jumped in with both feet.

[scott_dfw]

To add a little angle to Shawn's post... I offer a dilemma I encountered today with it.

I work at a Univeristy, so I obviously can't carry here at this time. I do carry on my daily commute, so I have to leave Betsy locked up in the car (which would leave me without a job if it were to be known).

I wanted to go watch my friend graduate from DPD academy this afternoon, and to avoid the parking woes, I was just going to ride the light-rail downtown to make it simple. Well, being on public transit is one of those places I always like to be 'protected'...however I couldnt do it today because the graduation ceremony is held at El Centro College. So that means I have to ride to and from on the "subway" and walk to the college and back unarmed. So negating the fact that I work at a university to start with... there are other situations that can effect a lot of people even though they arent in college or have kids there.

-scott

[Aggie_engr]

Spot on scott. So now that campus carry looks like it will not go through this session, I saw something else about decriminalizing carrying on campus. So, is this going to have any effect on our right to carry? I'm kind of confused on what went down....

...that public colleges would qualify as property "owned or leased by a governmental entity" and would, therefore, be prohibited from posting 30.06. If that's correct, public colleges would still be allowed to expel students and fire employees caught carrying on campus, but they wouldn't be able to take legal action against anyone caught carrying on campus.

[BrianSW99]

Spot on scott. So now that campus carry looks like it will not go through this session, I saw something else about decriminalizing carrying on campus. So, is this going to have any effect on our right to carry? I'm kind of confused on what went down....

I think you're referring to the amendment to the DPS sunset bill in the House that was briefly offered and quickly withdrawn after it was challenged on a point of order. Had it been adopted, it would have decriminalized campus carry, but still have allowed campuses to adopt rules prohibiting carry.

As we stand now, there are no changes to the existing law regarding campus carry.

[scott_dfw]

My perception is... (and PLEASE correct me if I'm wrong Mr. Chas and other knowledgeable people)

I work at a private university, so they already have the ability to allow me to carry on campus if they so desire. (which they will fight tooth and nail against letting us carry until Johnny law forces them to)

State and public universities are the ones that have a state law preventing carry there, as well as their university policies preventing carry. So the decriminalization thing would allow state/public schools to set their own policy to allow or ban concealed carry. Also it wouldnt be "illegal" to carry there, but you could still be expelled or fired if you violated their policy.

I hope that is right... anyone care for rebuttal? (or to back me up) :-)

[hirundo82]

I work at a private university, so they already have the ability to allow me to carry on campus if they so desire. (which they will fight tooth and nail against letting us carry until Johnny law forces them to)

Any school can presently set their own policy regarding carry on campus:

Sec. 46.03. PLACES WEAPONS PROHIBITED. (a) A person commits an offense if the person intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly possesses or goes with a firearm, illegal knife, club, or prohibited weapon listed in Section 46.05(a):

(1) on the physical premises of a school or educational institution, any grounds or building on which an activity sponsored by a school or educational institution is being conducted, or a passenger transportation vehicle of a school or educational institution, whether the school or educational institution is public or private, unless pursuant to written regulations or written authorization of the institution;

There was a news story last year about a school district in North Texas adopting a policy to allow teachers to carry. No Texas college has a blanket policy allowing carry as far as anyone here knows; I wouldn't be surprised if a few upper administrators have written authorization but have no personal knowledge of such.

State and public universities are the ones that have a state law preventing carry there, as well as their university policies preventing carry. So the decriminalization thing would allow state/public schools to set their own policy to allow or ban concealed carry. Also it wouldnt be "illegal" to carry there, but you could still be expelled or fired if you violated their policy.

Carry at any institution of higher education is illegal unless specifically authorized, per TPC Sec. 46.03.

There were several permutations of bills to change that this year:
1. The campus carry bills (HB 1893 and SB 730) as originally written changed the law to allow CHL holders to carry on college premises and at college activities, and prohibited all institutions from making any regulation that prohibited carry.
2. HB 1893 passed out of committee with an amendment to allow private institutions to have regulations prohibiting carry on their premises.
3. When it became apparent that neither bill was going to make it to the floor for a vote, an amendment to the DPS Sunset Bill was (briefly) offered that would have allowed CHL holders to carry on campus, with nothing prohibiting any institutions from prohibiting carry by regulation. Posting a Section 30.06-compliant sign would have been allowed by that amendment, but would have been invalid if posted at a state school per Section 30.06(e). Schools would have still been allowed to fire or expel those who carried on campus.

[artx]

I got a bill alert saying SB1164 has been placed on the intent calendar in the Senate for the 18th (Monday) - this is too late right? Or can it still be saved? I thought it was too late, but I'm not sure why they'd schedule a bill on the calendar that has no ability to become law

[sss]

Yeah, I'm really confused now. Is campus carry dead this session or is there still some hope? :(

[Coogan]

Yeah, I'm really confused now. Is campus carry dead this session or is there still some hope? :(

At this point, I think we all need to be patient to see what happens.We have until June 1st before the session ends, unless the Governor calls a special session. HB1893 is dead. SB1164 is probably dead, unless 21 votes come forth. But it is possible that additional amendments could be offered to other bills that have already passed one chamber of the legislature. It´s probably a long shot, but who knows? We´ll all know after June 1st.

[Douva]

They're debating the bill in the Senate.

http://www.senate.state.tx.us/ram/helix/ch1.ram" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[J.R.@A&M]

It sounds to me as if Senators Van de Putte's floor amendment (Amendment 1) which Duncan argued for) simply wants to pass the buck from the legislature to the Boards of Regents.

[scott_dfw]

Awesome...thanks for the link.

Who is the [Senator] trying to gut the amendment? She used "common sense approach" like 50 times...She watched too much ObamaTV I guess.

I believe if the choice of carry or no carry is left up to the college, the colleges will still say No...

Its a better, larger step than anything else though.... so best of luck to us.

[Charles L. Cotton]

It sounds to me as if Senators Van de Putte's floor amendment (Amendment 1) which Duncan argued for) simply wants to pass the buck from the legislature to the Boards of Regents.

It was a killer amendment and both knew it. Under current law, any university, primary or secondary school can allow guns on campus simply by putting that in writing. Her amendment would have gutted the bill.

Chas.

[scott_dfw]

I tell you what, I am loving me some Senator Wentworth...

That guy is pretty sharp, and working hard for us!

[FuziDave]

that was some good TV.

that guy with, I think it was, amendment #4. his rude response "read the amendment!!". you could tell he didn’t have much thought behind it. just read from a script.