Texas A&M Personal Protection Bill

After many weeks of debate, Student Senate officially passed the “Texas A&M Personal Protection Bill,” which advocates for concealed carry in campus buildings.

The concealed carry bill passed with a vote of 38-19 at the Oct. 31 Senate meeting, but was stalled after a motion was made to reconsider the bill. At Wednesday’s meeting, the motion to reconsider the bill failed, officially passing the bill out of Senate.

Scott Bowen, senior chemical engineering major and speaker of the Senate, said the bill’s next stop is the desk of the Student Body President John Claybrook.

“At this point it comes to me and I either have the chance to sign it or veto it,” Claybrook said. “I’m going to be looking forward to discussing the pros and cons of both with my team [Thursday] and looking forward to having a decision about it in the next few days.”

Claybrook said Student Senate’s willingness to tackle controversial issues is great, saying it allows himself and the Senate the opportunity to fulfill their responsibilities of serving students.

“It’s our job and our duty to represent the voice of the students,” Claybrook said. “I want to be sure that this is something that is representative of the student body because that was what I was elected to do.”

Claybrook said he has a week to decide before the bill automatically passes.

A&M policy allows concealed carry on campus, but not inside buildings. The Senate bill calls on the University and the Texas Legislature to mandate that concealed carry by allowed on all public university property.

Source:
http://www.thebatt.com/concealed-carry-bill-passes-1.2954082