A new law went into effect in Texas on Monday that allows
certain students to bring guns into classrooms, with supporters saying it could
prevent mass shootings and critics saying the measure will endanger safety on
campuses.

The so-called state “campus carry” law allows people
21 and older with a concealed handgun license to carry pistols in classrooms
and most buildings throughout public universities, including the University of
Texas system, one of the nation’s largest with an enrollment of more than
214,000 students.

The law took effect as the university held a memorial to mark
the 50th anniversary of one of the deadliest U.S. gun incidents on a college
campus. On Aug. 1 1966, student Charles Whitman killed 16 people in a rampage,
firing from a perch atop the clock tower at the University of Texas at Austin,
the state’s flagship public university.

Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican who supports campus carry,
said a gunman could already bring a firearm on to campus, and the law could
prevent mass shootings because someone with a licensed concealed weapon could
be ready to confront a gunman.

“What campus carry does is that it only authorizes those
who go through the special training and background” to carry firearms, his
office quoted him as saying.

University of Texas professors lobbied unsuccessfully to prevent
the law, arguing the combination of youth, firearms and college life could make
for a deadly situation. University President Gregory Fenves reluctantly allowed
campus carry, saying he was compelled to do so under state law.

Last month, three professors sued to block the law, saying it
could have a chilling effect on academic freedom. Attorney General Ken Paxton,
a Republican, said the law was constitutionally sound and he would defend it.

The law allows private colleges to opt out, and most of the
state’s best-known private universities have done so, saying the measure runs
counter to protecting student safety.

Eight states allow people to carry concealed weapons on public
post-secondary campuses, according to the National Conference of State
Legislatures.

At the Austin campus, third-year graduate architecture student
Rachel Warburton said she was against campus carry since it runs counter to the
idea that a university should be open and safe for all.

“It
brings an air to the campus that you don’t feel safe and you feel that you
always have to be protected,” she said ahead of the memorial.