College Students In One State Can Now Carry Handguns
Texas college under the age of 21 students can now carry handguns.
Carrying a firearm is a topic of conversation that is divided in many areas. Some people believe that guns should be abolished due to the number of mass shootings that occur every year, while others take the right to bear arms incredibly seriously. It is a topic that has caused many debates in schools, pubs, and even the Senate. In one state, college students can now carry firearms onto campus.
At a college in Texas, students under the age of twenty-one can now carry licensed handguns onto campus as guns are as essential for learning as a calculator is. This change comes as a law was revised by the Texas Department of Public Safety. The change made it legal for anyone between the ages of eighteen to twenty to be allowed to carry a handgun in public as long as it was registered.
This law was revised last August when a federal judge changed the Texas state law. The original law stopped anyone under the age of twenty-one from carrying a gun in public, but this judge deemed it as unconstitutional.
Since the court made such a controversial reversal of a law protecting young people and educational institutions’ sanctity, the Department of Personal Safety had to review the ruling. From its review, the department released that it would comply with the change in law, and it would no longer implement the state law that stopped people under the age of twenty-one from wearing a licensed gun. This law went into effect on January 10th.
Since the law went into effect, there is now a more significant number of students that are able to carry weapons onto campus. Since there was another mass shooting in Michigan a couple of weeks ago, this new law will upset and worry a lot more people and parents of students. Not only are people that are eighteen and above allowed to carry licensed guns, but they can also be concealed, which is a worrying thought.
Since the rule changed in January, over 100 Texas newly eligible teenagers have applied to the Department of Public Safety for licenses to hold guns while at school. It is not known how many of these are college students.
It seems that many teenagers under the age of twenty-one are interested in having a handgun on them in public places, as there have numerous calls to lawyers in the state to help them with the proceedings.
Experts fear that this is the first of many Texas state laws to be abolished as people are clinging to their rights based on the Second Amendment of the constitution.
While it is everyone’s free right to carry a gun on their persons if they feel like they want to, but there is no place for firearms of any size to be in a classroom. It is unnecessary and will create an unsafe environment not just for the students but also for the teachers and faculty members. Educational institutions should be safe spaces for everyone.
