1. Senate Bill 11 and Campus Carry
Aaron Bartula, PhD
University of North Texas at Dallas

2. Senate Bill 11 Review
Weapons can be carried concealed by CHL holders on Texas higher education campuses.
Colleges/Universities have latitude in determining where they can be carried and how they should be stored.

3. Justifications
The bill was highly contested, but ultimately passed and was enacted September 1st, 2016.
Examples of some justifications for Senate Bill 11 from some of the bill’s sponsors:
Rep. Allen Fletcher noted:
"There will be no noticeable difference”; "No one will realize it at all that the CHLers are now allowed to be in class because the gun is concealed and no one will know they're carrying unless a bad guy comes in and starts taking people's lives, and then a Texas CHLer might stand up and end it“ (KVUE, 2015).
“I just feel that the time has come for us to protect the men and women of Texas who are carrying concealed on our campuses” (Texas Tribune, 2015).
Sen. Brian Birdwell asserted:
It is a “God-given right”; “A fundamental right granted by the creator is not subordinate to the financial costs or speculation … of our universities”.
“My concern is to expand the freedom of our most trustworthy citizens” (Texas Tribune, 2015).
“The legislative intent…is for public college campuses to be as permissive and accessible to CHL holders as possible”(Dallas Morning News, 2015).

4. Background
Aside from federal laws, states create policies concerning guns on campus
Utah: 1st state to allowed concealed handguns on college campuses in 2004 (through judicial decision).
As of 2012, 200 public campuses in 6 states allowed guns on campus

5. UNTD Policy
As noted, Colleges/Universities have latitude in determining where CHL holders can be carry and how they should be stored.
However, per the bill, signs must be posted where carry is prohibited.
UNTD Prohibitive (new campus with only 3000 students and first dorm opening in fall 2017):
Labs
Student Affairs (disciplinary hearings only)
Counseling Clinic
Sports Complex
Any Events alcohol is Served
Other prohibited locations by institutions:
President’s Office
Other Administrative Offices
Student Affairs
Student Need Services (e.g., disability)
Sports/Entertainment Venues
Professor Offices
Student Orientations
Public Events
Among Others

6. Previous Study Research Question:
Whether the perceived effects on campus crime and fear amongst students, faculty and staff would be elevated if firearms were able to be carried on campus?
Electronic questionnaire of top police officials in Texas universities and colleges ( s were obtained via school’s websites and access granted via the Texas Association of College and University Police Administrators-TACUPA).
31 Questions: Open and Close Ended Questions
Personal Demographics, University and Department Demographics, Perceptions of open carry on campus crime rates and fear of victimization.
*Note the sample was overwhelmingly white (80.85%) males (93.62%) with more than 13 years of law enforcement experience (48%).

7. Results Quantitative:
The overwhelming majority (over 90%) of the sample were not in favor of campus carry on campuses.
Students, Faculty and Staff
Eighty-three percent respectively of the sample disagreed that campus carry would decrease the fear of crime.
Eighty percent believed it would not decrease fear of victimization
While these findings were expected, the lack of variance in the sample was not. Specifically, no less than 80 percent of the sample agreed on any given variable
Qualitative:
The survey allowed respondents to provide valuable qualitative feedback.
“Higher Education is an enlightened, open environment intended to stimulate creative, open thinking where intense challenging debate of topics is considered standard. A college education is costly and continues to rise placing intense pressure on students to succeed. In my opinion, introducing firearms into this environment whether concealed or open carry is not a healthy idea.”
“Increased risk of accidental discharge. Mishandling of weapon (i.e., showing off weapon to others), Weapon as a harassment or intimidation tool. Misplace or lose weapon during school activities or while using the restroom.”
“More gun related incidents from stressed out students/staff”; “1) The liability of an officer responding to a situation in which he or she has to decide who is the CHL holder or suspect. 2) The ability of the officer to identify who has a CHL or not. Based on PC or reasonable suspicion and the legal ramifications as a result of questioning the CHL holder. 3) the new law will create more fear on campus than before. 4) Enough funding to train each officers in verbal de-escalation tactics.”

8. Current Study
A follow-up study is currently in the data collection phase that revisits Senate Bill 11 a year later.
Research Question:
What has been the empirical impact of Senate Bill 11 on Texas colleges and universities in its’ first year?
Hypotheses:
The bill will have no effect on total campus crime.
The bill will have no effect on firearm incidents on campus.
The bill has increased the fear of crime on campus by all.
Similar to the previous study an electronic questionnaire has been sent to top police officials in Texas universities and colleges (TACUPA and school websites).
30 Questions: Open and Close Ended Questions
With previous study, demographics are collected, but the rest of the questions are about on campus crime statistics within the past year.

9. Preliminary Results Demographics: Total Crimes Previous 5 Years
Post Campus Carry Year
Firearm Crimes

10. Questions? Thank you for your time. Contact Aaron Bartula, PhD