Oregon College Shooting Rekindles Texas Campus Carry Debate
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NORTH TEXAS (CBS11) - The shooting on a community college campus in Oregon comes at a time when Texas colleges remain divided about the issue of weapons on campus.
In June, Senate Bill 11, also known as "campus carry," was signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott. The bill requires public universities to allow handgun license-holders to carry concealed weapons on campus beginning in August 2016.
North Texas universities, such at UT– Arlington and UT – Dallas, are holding community meetings to discuss what locations on campus concealed carry should be prohibited.
The bill allows universities to makes these recommendations to the University of Texas System Board of Regents, which has final authority on all campus carry implementation policies
School security expert John Setser said college campus will remain a "soft target" for shooters unless something changes.
However, Setser, who supports campus carry, said he does not believe students who live on campus should be allowed to carry.
"Not every student should be allowed to carry a weapon on campus," he said. "But I think there are some students that should be allowed to carry weapons and defend themselves and defends others from things like this from happening."
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