Campus concealed gun bill advances

The Senate today tentatively passed a controversial bill to allow college students who are at least 21 years old and licensed to carry concealed handguns to carry those weapons into campus buildings. The vote was 20-10 after about 90 minutes of debate.
The bill faces a final vote before it would go to the House, where a similar bill was declared dead last week by its author, Rep. Joe Driver, R-Garland. The Senate bill could be a way to revive the issue in the final weeks of the session.
Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, said he introduced the bill because of the 2007 massacre at Virginia Tech, where he said victims were "picked off like sitting ducks."
"I would feel personally guilty if I woke up one morning and read that something similar had occurred on a Texas campus," he said.
The bill would apply to all universities and colleges in the state, but private institutions would be able to opt-out. Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio, tried to amend the bill to allow university regents to determine whether to have guns on their respective campuses.
"This is a common-sense approach to the concealed handgun issue. Allow local control," she said before her amendment was defeated.
The Senate also tabled a Van de Putte amendment that would have informed parents that their student was living with a roommate

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