Texas House to vote on campus carry bill

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – The Texas House is scheduled to vote Tuesday on whether to allow concealed handguns in public college classrooms and buildings.

The measure sailed through the Republican-controlled Senate in March, but hasn’t been set for a vote in the House until the final week of the legislative session. If approved there, it would go to Gov. Greg Abbott to sign into law.

Abbott has pledged to expand gun rights in his first session and the state’s chief executive.

Gun rights groups say the bill is an important self-defense measure for students and teachers and often cite the 2007 Virginia Tech shootings when a gunman killed 32.

Opponents say it will make campuses less safe. Opposition from higher education officials has killed the bill in previous years.