Texas renews debate on handguns on college campuses
AUSTIN, Texas Texas lawmakers are renewing the debate on allowing concealed handguns into college classrooms.
The House Committee on Homeland Security and Public Safety is meeting Thursday to consider several bills allowing concealed handgun license holders to carry their guns into campus buildings where they are currently banned.
CBS Austin affiliate KEYE-TV reports of the two bills, two are getting the most attention: One that would allow the concealed handguns into college classrooms, and another would train teachers as school marshals.
Claire Wilson James, a survivor of the University of Texas tower shooting in 1996 and a teacher of 30 years, is expected to testify against the bills. James will argue that the role of teachers and law enforcement are two different jobs that shouldn't be combined, KEYE-TV reports.
A similar measure erupted into one of the most contentious bills of the 2011 session before it failed. Supporters are pushing the measure again.
College administrators have generally not supported the effort in the past. They worry guns will spark more campus violence and suicide.
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Supporters call it a gun rights issue and a self-defense measure that could prevent mass shootings similar to the one at Virginia Tech in 2007 and last year at a Connecticut elementary school.