Texas Tech faculty, staff group petitions against 'Campus Carry'

LUBBOCK, TX (KCBD) - Some faculty and staff at Texas Tech have started a petition against Senate Bill 11, also known as the Campus Carry law.

The law extends the right to carry concealed handguns into buildings on public college campuses, and is set to take effect on August 1st of 2016.

The petition calls on Texas Tech President Duane Nellis to declare all classrooms as well as faculty and staff offices as "gun free" zones. It goes on to ask the university board of regents to approve their request.

We spoke with several Tech students to see how they feel about the petition.

Some students, like Jack Garner, believe campus carry is a good thing.

"I believe that open carry would deter crime because any potential shooter knowing that there are people in a building or on campus that have guns. That would deter them from performing that horrific act," Garner said.

The petition indicates that the faculty and staff who have signed on believe campus carry is a bad idea, much like freshman Sarah Carrier, who says she would feel uncomfortable knowing students could carry concealed guns on campus.

"I think it's a bad idea," Carrier said. "I don't think bringing more guns on campus is going to help anything."

In the petition, faculty says the presence of guns on campus puts the university in danger and is quote "not only a threat to our safety; it is a threat to our academic freedom. It creates a special class of students which is encouraged to secretly carry lethal force into college and university buildings."

As of now Senate Bill 11 is Texas law, and one of the only ways for it to not take effect here, is for this petition to be approved.

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