University of Houston - Releases Draft Campus Carry Policy

[ExNavyInHouston]

For those of you following at home, this is the first commit to paper. There's been a lot of talk, rumor and innuendo up till now. Of course, Draft Versions are written pencil. But, at least we have our first "real" red meat to chew on.

http://www.uh.edu/police/campus-carry/C ... 1.2016.pdf

Here are the words from the source email:

The 15-member Campus Carry Work Group at the University of Houston is releasing its draft policy. The policy was developed to comply with Senate Bill No. 11 (S.B. 11), also known as the "campus carry" law, and follows months of discussion and deliberation. Campus community members, including students, faculty and staff, were invited to share their input prior to the policy development through several open forums, a campus-wide survey, and emailed comments at campuscarry@uh.edu.

SB11 allows individuals licensed to carry concealed handguns to "carry a concealed handgun on or about the license holder’s person while the license holder is on the campus of an institution of higher education" and

Authorizes the president to establish reasonable rules, regulations, or other provisions regarding the carrying of concealed handguns by license holders on campus; Limits authority such that the president or officer may not establish provisions that generally prohibit or have the effect of generally prohibiting license holders from carrying concealed handguns on the campus of the institution; Allows for broad input from students, faculty, and staff; and Requires an implementation deadline of August 1, 2016.

The draft policy must also:

Respect the unique nature of our campus which includes classrooms, dormitories, laboratories, athletic facilities, grade school classrooms, day care facilities, medical and psychological clinics, and multiple public auditoriums among many of our 157 buildings; Recognize the concerns of many, including our Faculty Senate which passed a resolution in opposition on December 21, 2015; and Recognize the need for appropriate storage so that license holders can safely store their firearms when necessary.

The draft policy can be found here. (See Link I posted above)

The Campus Carry Work Group will hold an Open Forum on Wednesday, March 9, 2016 at 3-5 p.m. in the Student Center Theatre, as well as at UH Sugar Land on Thursday, March 10, 2016 at 3-5 p.m. in Room 103B of Brazos Hall Building. These forums are open to the campus community.

Comments are due to the Campus Carry Work Group by March 21, 2016 and these should be sent to campuscarry@uh.edu.

Marcilynn A. Burke
Associate Dean
Associate Professor of Law
campuscarry@uh.edu
713-743-2227
University of Houston Law Center

[CoffeeNut]

To me it seems like they have gone out of their way to make carrying a firearm as much of a headache for the licensee as possible.

[JP171]

It also appears that they are trying to control things they are not authorized by law to control and the lege should refuse to accept on those grounds thereby voiding the whole thing

[Charles L. Cotton]

I'm a UH Law Center grad and I'm proud to say that my school may well be the poster child for getting the Texas Legislature to amend the so-called campus carry law to revoke all discretion given to schools to determine off-limits areas. The Draft Campus Carry Policy is absurd and I would be quite happy to file suit against UH on August 2, 2016 if they put anything remotely close to this into practice on August 1, 2016. That said, the legislative fix will be faster and it will apply across the board to all public schools.

Congratulations UH, you have proven my predictions to have been accurate.

Chas.

[Piney]

Im not familiar with the U of H main campus. Reading the list of exclusion zones appears to me to include every building on campus. Are there buildings that are not included in the list ?

[bear94]

My campus released some recommendations but they haven't made a draft version yet. http://www.utrgv.edu/campuscarry/_files ... ations.pdf

It looks like my campus made an exception for single room dorms but want to ban handguns from shared dorms.

[casp625]

Since half the off-limits area reference 46.03(a)(1):

(a) A person commits an offense if the person intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly possesses or goes with a firearm, illegal knife, club, or prohibited weapon listed in Section 46.05(a):
(1) on the physical premises of a school or educational institution, any grounds or building on which an activity sponsored by a school or educational institution is being conducted, or a passenger transportation vehicle of a school or educational institution, whether the school or educational institution is public or private, unless pursuant to written regulations or written authorization of the institution;

that means we can just rely on 46.03(a)(1)(B) effective August 01, 2016, right?!

(1) on the physical premises of a school or educational institution, any grounds or building on which an activity sponsored by a school or educational institution is being conducted, or a passenger transportation vehicle of a school or educational institution, whether the school or educational institution is public or private, unless:
(B) the person possesses or goes with a concealed handgun that the person is licensed to carry under Subchapter H, Chapter 411, Government Code, and no other weapon to which this section applies, on the premises of an institution of higher education or private or independent institution of higher education, on any grounds or building on which an activity sponsored by the institution is being conducted, or in a passenger transportation vehicle of the institution;

[Bladed]

I'm a UH Law Center grad and I'm proud to say that my school may well be the poster child for getting the Texas Legislature to amend the so-called campus carry law to revoke all discretion given to schools to determine off-limits areas. The Draft Campus Carry Policy is absurd and I would be quite happy to file suit against UH on August 2, 2016 if they put anything remotely close to this into practice on August 1, 2016. That said, the legislative fix will be faster and it will apply across the board to all public schools.

Congratulations UH, you have proven my predictions to have been accurate.

Chas.

So is the main issue that they're trying to call everything a childcare area?

That seems to be SCC's biggest complaint: https://nebula.wsimg.com/c22d5ea4b2b4fc ... n=1#page=4

[eyedoc]

[/quote]
So is the main issue that they're trying to call everything a childcare area?
[/quote]

That or a hospital.

[ELB]

... That said, the legislative fix will be faster and it will apply across the board to all public schools.
...

Chas.

So is there willingness among the legislators to revisit campus carry next session?

I hope so, but I could see them not wanting to deal with this for awhile, especially since actual carry on campus will have been legal for only one semester. I'm sure all the university administrators will see it that way and urge the Leg to "see how it works in practice" regardless of how much the rules flout the law.

Maybe HB 308 reincarnated can take care of all this.

[DevilDawg]

I am perfectly willing to let the Legislature rain all over their little parade.

UH was never allowed to be on the radar for my son due to the rampant criminal element allowed to run rampant across the campus day and night. It is truly a sad thing to see a once great University reduced to its current state. However when you promote football above all others and the prevailing thug culture within that sport it is the status the student athletes adhere to you get what you paid for.

[Charles L. Cotton]

... That said, the legislative fix will be faster and it will apply across the board to all public schools.
...

Chas.

So is there willingness among the legislators to revisit campus carry next session?

It's far too early to tell.

Chas.

[LucasMcCain]

A lot of their basis for prohibition in different areas seems to hinge upon the presence of minors. Not a lawyer, but the presence of minors is not a legit reason to prohibit licensed carry. They are trying to somehow say that because daycares and schools are prohibited places, the presence of minors is enough to justify creating a gun free zone. This just a classic case of people in power twisting the rules to suit their own views. I hope they get called on it hard. Just because they don't like a law doesn't mean they get to ignore it.

[locke_n_load]

I know several colleges trying to ban dorm carry. That is going to be taken care of real quick come next year.