Court Rejects Texas Professors' Request To Block Campus Carry
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AUSTIN (CBSDFW.COM) - The United States District Court for the Western District of Texas has denied a request by three professors to block the enforcement of Texas' new campus carry law.
The decision late Monday came just days before the fall semester begins at the University of Texas at Austin. The 50,000-student campus has led opposition to the law since it was signed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott last year.
Sociology professor Jennifer Lynn Glass, and English professors Lisa Moore and Mia Carter all claimed in the lawsuit that guns in classrooms could be dangerous when discussions wade into politically charged topics.
The trio noted that they each teach emotional topics including abortion, sexuality and gay rights. Guns in classrooms, they argued, could disrupt student discussion and violate free speech protections.
But U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel ruled that neither lawmakers nor university regents overstepped their power in choosing where concealed firearms could be allowed on campus.
Texas has allowed licensed concealed handguns in public since 1995. But colleges until now had been off limits.
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