UT-Austin campus carry panel recommends that guns should be banned in dorms, but not classrooms

AUSTIN – Classrooms should not be designated as gun-free zones. Faculty and staff should be allowed to ban guns in their offices. Guns should generally not be allowed in dorms.

Those are key recommendations made Thursday by a University of Texas at Austin panel tasked with helping implement the state’s campus carry law. The law, which goes into effect next fall, allows the licensed carrying of concealed handguns in most public campus buildings.

The suggestions are far from final, since President Gregory Fenves must review them and then submit his proposed rules to UT’s Board of Regents. But with more schools expected to soon release their own preliminary ideas, UT-Austin’s effort could serve as a bellwether.

The campus has been a hotbed for dissension on the new law – as evidenced in reaction to the proposal. One group, Gun-Free UT, blasted the report, saying it had “utterly failed.” Another group, Students for Concealed Carry, declared it mostly a victory for gun-rights advocates.

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