How ‘Campus Carry’ Will Change the Way Texas Students Live Their Lives

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Before this summer, Shaan Kewalramani, an incoming freshman at Texas A&M University at College Station, did not dwell on the fact that people with concealed-carry licenses would be able to bring their weapons into classrooms and dormitories at his new home in the fall. Then he noticed a thread in a Facebook group for new students.

“What’s everyone’s view on gun control?” the post asked. In the comments, Mr. Kewalramani added his own simple insight: “No guns,” he wrote, earning a handful of likes. But the post was quickly overwhelmed by others who championed a student’s right to bear arms.

The conversation isn’t confined to Facebook. Mr. Kewalramani, who lives in Pennsylvania, is part of a GroupMe chat for incoming students in which he says people swap and compliment pictures of their firearms.

The virtual chatter surprised Mr. Kewalramani. He and his high-school friends rarely discussed guns, let alone the prospect of people packing heat in university buildings and dorms. What was his new home, 1,500 miles out west, going to be like?

Right now, Mr. Kewalramani does not think a new law permitting students to carry firearms will profoundly alter his life in college. Rather, the idea that someone nearby might have a concealed weapon will often be “lingering in the back of my mind,” he said.

Residential campuses in Texas, and across the country, are more than just a collection of classrooms. They are years-long homes to thousands of students whose lives play out largely on campus grounds. With the introduction of firearms comes more than just questions about the classroom: How, for example, do you find a roommate when some students will carry guns and others won’t? How do you resolve conflicts in dorms when one student may be armed?

‘Not That Big of a Learning Curve’

The law, known as SB 11 or campus carry, takes effect on August 1. It gives Texas institutions some wiggle room in deciding whether or not to allow guns in dormitories.

A few, like the University of Texas at Austin, have banned guns from residence halls. The university’s implementation policy states that because students in those dorms share bedrooms, that presents a “special danger” of “accidental loss, theft, or misuse by roommates or others,” which is an “unacceptably high risk.”

But a majority of Texas colleges will allow guns in dorms to some extent. Some, like the University of North Texas and the University of Texas at San Antonio, will give private rooms to students with concealed-carry licenses. Others are hashing out recommendations for students and residential assistants to deal with potential conflicts related to campus carry.

At Texas A&M’s flagship, in College Station, a majority of the 60,000 students live off campus. And 95 percent of students who live in residence halls are under 21, making them ineligible to hold a concealed-carry license, Sherylon Carroll, a university spokeswoman, wrote in an email. Because of that, “we see no evidence that campus carry has, or will, significantly impact roommate assignments,” Ms. Carroll wrote.

But institutions must still make plans for the exceptions. At Midwestern State University, in Wichita Falls, campus officials will use student feedback to review the roommate-assignment process and change it if necessary, said Kristi Schulte, director of residence life.

Guidelines are being finalized on how students who own guns should act in their dorm rooms, said Patrick Coggins, the university’s chief of police. Most likely, he said, students will be required to store their weapons in safes rented from the office of residence life whenever they are not in that person’s direct, physical control.

“You can’t just leave it sitting out on the desk or in the kitchen or something,” Mr. Coggins said.

Midwestern State is also training resident assistants to facilitate conversations and navigate potential conflicts between roommates regarding the policy, said Ms. Schulte.

“We want to make sure that they’re not escalating situations, but teach them how to have a productive conversation,” she said.

Also, if a student is uncomfortable living with someone with a concealed-carry license, that student can request a room change at any point in the semester, she said.

At Texas A&M University at Kingsville, students will be able to request double-locked dressers with a gun safe affixed inside, and that safe could be used to store a firearm or other valuable items, said Terisa C. Riley, the university’s senior vice president for student affairs. So far, the university has ordered 10 dressers at a cost of roughly $3,000 total, she wrote in an email.

All residential students at Kingsville are guided by an RA through common cohabitation concerns at the beginning of the semester. This fall RAs will add a new question about roommates’ level of comfort with having weapons in the room. The intention is to prompt conversations between paired roommates so they can negotiate likely scenarios, said Ms. Riley.

For example, people with concealed-carry licenses are not supposed to show their guns. But that will be inevitable when undressing, she said. So students should think and talk about “what that looks like or feels like for the roommate.”

Or, perhaps during the discussion, a student will say that he is licensed to carry a firearm, but also that he occasionally drinks on the weekends.

“And [the roommate] could say, ‘Oh, OK, I’m cool with that. But you just mentioned you drink, so how does that work for you?’” Ms. Riley said.

However, if there are unresolved concerns, RAs should remember that they are students too, she said, and they should call a professional.

Open Carry vs. Concealed Carry

College officials are also fielding questions from students who are uncertain about how campus carry will work while they are out and about on the campus. The most common confusion for students has been the difference between open carry and concealed carry, said Ed Reynolds, chief of police at the University of North Texas. He has instructed incoming students on the law throughout summer orientation sessions, and he generally recommends that “if you see something, say something” to the police.

But Mr. Reynolds said students also need to be educated on the possible circumstances in which catching a glimpse of a firearm does not violate the university’s policy. “Someone leaning over to tie their shoe — that’s not an intentional display” of the weapon, he said.

David Yebra, director of emergency preparedness at Sam Houston State University, in Huntsville, does not expect many students to carry concealed weapons. But he said he has been encouraging new students to download the public-safety mobile app, which devotes a section to campus-carry training and frequently asked questions, so they can feel empowered with information wherever they go.

Like Mr. Yebra, Mr. Coggins predicts that few students at Midwestern State will carry weapons in the fall. (Out of 5,700 students on the campus, roughly 300 are eligible. But based on statewide statistics, it’s likely that only two dozen have a license, Ms. Schulte said.)

“At the end of the day, it’s not going to be that big of a learning curve,” Mr. Coggins said.

Like administrators, students across Texas are grappling with the legislation’s potential impact on their everyday lives. Zarur De Leon-Torres, a senior at the University of Texas at Dallas, already inspects, loads, and then slides his small Glock 43 pistol into the holster in his pants pocket every morning. With the advent of campus carry, Mr. De Leon-Torres’s day will not change much; he’ll bring his handgun to his classes instead of leaving it in his car.

A Navy reservist, he said having a gun makes him feel more comfortable, especially in crowded places. Also, it allows him to potentially “serve as protection for people around me,” he said, though he doubts that situation will ever arise.

Erick Bruno, a recent graduate of the University of Texas at Dallas and retired Marine, also plans to carry his gun when he attends law school next fall.

A firearm is not a “magic talisman” that can ward off danger, but “it’s nice to have if you ever need it, just like a parachute on a plane,” Mr. Bruno said.

But Mr. Kewalramani, the incoming Texas A&M student, said concealed weapons in dorm rooms could lead to unintended consequences for the gun owner and those nearby.

“There could be suicides. There could be violent crime. Dorm theft is really common,” Mr. Kewalramani said.

Elyse Avina, a senior at the University of Texas at Austin and president of the student group Students Against Campus Carry, said anxiety about people potentially carrying weapons in public spaces will distract her in the classroom. (The university has estimated that less than 1 percent of students have licenses to carry weapons.)

Ana Lopéz, a sophomore at Austin and vice president of Ms. Avina’s group, echoed her apprehensions.

“I feel like I should wear a bulletproof vest on the way to my chemistry class,” Ms. Lopéz said.

She said allowing guns in and around student housing could escalate the stakes of sexual assault, especially when mixed with excessive alcohol consumption and a party atmosphere. (The University of Texas at Austin bars students from having guns in residence halls, but the practice is allowed in university apartments.)

“I’m speaking for the girl defending herself and the guy with the gun threatening the girl,” Ms. Lopéz said. “It just doesn’t belong on either side.”

Students seem to be bracing themselves for an amount of uncertainty instigated by concealed carry. While sitting in a lecture hall, studying in a dorm room, or walking around on the campus, said Ms. Lopéz, “you don’t know who you’re next to.”