THE BURNED OVER DISTRICT

The state of Texas where the legislature has delusions of it still being a part of the Wild West, has passed a law requiring state colleges and universities to allow concealed carry of firearms on campus. Private institutions were not required to do so and none have chosen to follow suit.

More than 20 private schools have said they won’t lift their gun bans when the law takes effect this August, including the state’s largest private universities that have religious affiliations and often align with the type of conservative values espoused by the politicians behind the law.

The opposition has not surprised top Texas Republicans who championed the law as a matter of constitutional rights and self-defense. But it reflects a widespread belief even among conservative university leaders that guns have no place in the classroom.

Baylor, Texas Christian and Southern Methodist universities have all declined to allow guns on their campuses.

“My own view is that it is a very unwise public policy,” Baylor President Ken Starr, a former prosecutor and judge best known for his work on the Whitewater investigation involving President Bill Clinton, said late last year. The Baptist school announced this month that guns would not be allowed on campus.

Previous law generally banned concealed handguns from Texas’ public and private universities. That changed last year, when lawmakers passed the so-called “campus carry” law that requires public universities to allow concealed handgun license holders to bring their weapons into campus buildings and classrooms.

Texas will be one of at least 20 states that allow some form of campus carry. But only a few make it a defined right in state law like Texas does.

The law faced strong objections from public higher education officials, law enforcement, students and faculty across the state. Opponents included University of Texas System Chancellor William McRaven, the former head of U.S. Special Operations Command who directed the raid that killed Osama bin Laden. A notable exception was Texas A&M University System Chancellor John Sharp, who said guns on campus didn’t trouble him.

Pity that the small minds of the Texas legislature don't remember the largest campus massacre in Texas history would not have been altered in any way by the alleged safety of concealed carry. Charlie Whitman knew he wanted to kill, the "penis on the hip" crowd would have been surprised at every turn. So if you wreally want to go to school in Texas, make sure it is a privately run institution.