From August 2016, the more than 50,000 students at the University of Texas at Austin will be free to bring handguns to campus, including class, but not to their dorm rooms, a report by People confirms.
At a press conference, the university’s president outlined the school’s recently overhauled guidelines, which will take effect in the upcoming semester.
In a statement obtained by People, school president Gregory Fenves said the school had to update its guidelines because of a new state law – known as “the campus carry law” – which permits licensed Texans to carry handguns in public college buildings. According to the law, which takes effect Aug. 1, weapons need to be in plain sight and secured in either belt or shoulder holsters.
Gregory Fenves, the school’s president, also told said that he has assembled a special task force that will be charged with implementing the university’s amended rules.
In his statement, Fenves said guns have no place in a higher education setting.
“I do not believe handguns belong on a university campus, so this decision has been the greatest challenge of my presidency to date,” Fenves wrote in his statement.
“I empathize with the many faculty, staff, students and parents of students who signed petitions, sent emails and letters, and organized to ban guns from campus and especially classrooms,” Fenves explained. “As a professor, I understand the deep concerns raised by so many. However, as president, I have an obligation to uphold the law.”
On May 29, 2015, lawmakers approved the new regulation giving Texans the right to bear arms within buildings situated on public college campuses statewide.
