Waco lawmaker proposes bill to allow conceal carry on campuses
One Texas lawmaker wants you to have the ability to carry your guns on colleges in the state. But he’s finding opposition from the academic community.
Waco Senator Brian Birdwell has filed the bill in Austin, but a group of Baylor professors, led by Blake Burleson have started a petition against that bill.
“We didn’t ask for help. We don’t think we need to change anything. Had we felt we needed help, we certainly would have asked for that,” Burleson told KTRH.
Burleson’s petition has over 120 signatures and has been delivered to the Senator.
“We produced the open letter and delivered that to the Senator, but the signatures are still coming on,” Burleson stated.
Not everyone sees it the way Burleson and his group sees it, though. University of Texas student Marc Hamlin, the President of Texans for Concealed Guns, told KTRH there are some good reasons why it should pass.
“A lot of women need to study late at night. The current bill stops them from carrying in the library, and that stops them from being able to protect themselves on their way to the library,” Hamiln said.
Hamlin says the professors at Baylor are afraid for the wrong reasons.
“We are fearful of what we don’t know. It kind of makes them uneasy, especially if those professors haven’t been around firearms,” Hamlin explained.
Burleson says he'd be open to a meeting with Birdwell. A similar bill was proposed last session in Austin but did not pass.
