Bills would allow guns at college

AUSTIN (AP) - John Woods sometimes sits in a classroom at the University of Texas and wonders what would happen if somebody walked in and started shooting. It's the kind of scenario he's imagined since April 2007, when he was a student at Virginia Tech and his girlfriend and several other people he knew were gunned down in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

"I think it was probably the worst day of my life," said Woods. There were times when Woods thought to himself that maybe he should get a gun.

"Then I learned pretty fast that wouldn't solve anything," said Woods, who is now a graduate student at UT. "The idea that somebody could stop a school shooting with a gun is impossible. It's reactive, not preventative."

Today, Woods is among the leaders in a fight against bills in the Texas Legislature that would allow licensed concealed gun carriers to bring their weapons to school. The House version of the bill, sponsored by Rep. Joe Driver, a Garland Republican, drew large numbers of people to the speak on both side of the issue at the public hearing Monday in the Public Safety Committee.

Supporters said the bills would do two things:

• protect the rights of those licensed to carry concealed weapons
• help prevent another massacre on the scale of what happened at Virginia Tech and another shooting last year at Northern Illinois University

University of Texas at Dallas graduate student Jeremy Schwab has been robbed at gunpoint twice. The second time was while he was walking to meets friends for coffee near the campus of Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

"This is a very small change to the law," said Schwab while waiting to speak at the public hearing. "But it will have a very big impact to reducing violent crime." He has had his concealed handgun license for two years and is a member of "Students for Concealed Carry on Campus."

Other organizations are afraid the presence of guns on college campuses would not help suicide statistics. It is currently the 2nd leading cause of death for college aid students.

"Other preventative measure are going to do a lot more to provide safety on campus," said Merily Keller with the Texas Suicide Prevention Council. Keller agrees with Woods that more time and effort should be put into helping students heading down a bad path before putting guns in more people's hands.

Monday, Rep. Joe Driver, R-Garland, said there has been a lot of misinformation put out about the bill. "This bill primarily affects adult, faculty, staff, visitors, parents," said Rep. Joe Driver. "Not students."

He said most underclassmen will not qualify because they are not 21 years old, which is the cut off age for obtaining a concealed handgun license in the state of Texas.

Driver also said only 4.5-percent, or 5,300 people who carry a concealed handgun in Texas are between the ages of  21 and 25. The bill also states colleges and universities can set their own rules on whether or not guns would be allowed in the dorms or other student housing.

Under the bill, guns would still be banned at all college athletic events. The guns on campus bills are HB1893 and SB1164.