Federal court rules in favor of UT’s campus carry policy

An attempt by three University of Texas at Austin professors to prevent licensed permit holders from carrying their concealed handguns while attending classes was denied by U.S. District Court Judge Lee Yeakel on Aug. 22.

 

Named as defendants in the professors’ lawsuit were Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, UT President Gregory L. Fenves and each member of the UT Board of Regents. The campus carry policy that sparked the lawsuit was approved by the board of regents in accordance with Senate Bill 11, a law passed by the state Legislature in 2015 allowing concealed carry on public university campuses. The law took effect Aug. 1 and the first day of classes was Aug. 24.

 

In their lawsuit, the professors asserted that classroom discussion would be “circumscribed by the near-certain presence of loaded guns” and that their ability to “make (their classrooms) truly a marketplace for the robust exchange of ideas will be impaired.” Their suit also argued that the new law and policy made them “incentivized to err on the side of ‘trimming their sails,’ academically speaking, when they push for classroom debate.”