Texas House to take up campus carry ahead of key deadline
Morgan Smith for The Texas Tribune reports:
Supporters of campus carry will be fighting against the clock on Tuesday when the Texas House takes up previously delayed legislation requiring public universities and colleges to allow concealed handguns on their campuses.
After a month of discussion over whether to attach campus carry to another piece of gun legislation — an effort to squeeze the controversial measure through — House lawmakers opted to consider the bill, Senate Bill 11, on its own.
The chamber must pass the bill by midnight Tuesday to avoid a key legislative deadline. House members are also set to take up several other major bills that day, including Senate Bill 575, a measure banning health insurance plans sold on the Affordable Care Act’s marketplace from covering abortions — setting the scene for opponents to use parliamentary maneuvers and other tactics to delay a vote.
…Proponents of the measure argue that not allowing concealed handgun license holders to carry their firearms on campus infringes on the rights of law-abiding citizens — and, at worst, could leave them without a means to defend themselves during an attack.
Read the full story at The Texas Tribune.
