The Chief of the University of North Texas Police Department is confident that implementation of the state’s Campus Carry law will largely go unnoticed.
“I think come Aug. 1 that most students, faculty and staff won’t notice any difference,” said Chief Ed Reynolds. “The only thing that they will see is signage that prohibits the carrying of a handgun in certain locations.”
Campus Carry will allow properly licensed people to carry a concealed handgun on the campuses of public colleges and universities in Texas, with some exceptions.
At UNT, those exceptions include buildings like Apogee Stadium, the Coliseum, the Pohl Recreation Center, the Health and Wellness Center and portions of other buildings where mental health or child care services are carried out.
“What hasn’t changed is if you see someone with a gun on campus, you should call 911 because, let’s keep in mind, this is concealed carry; not open carry,” Reynolds said. “No one should be walking around with an exposed handgun on campus unless it’s a police officer.”
In addition to the posting of signage at buildings where firearms will not be allowed, campus staff is busy this week installing safes in the dorm rooms of students who choose to carry.
Properly licensed students who plan to carry their handgun on campus will be issued a single occupancy dorm room, each of which will be outfitted with a safe similar in style to ones seen in many hotel rooms.
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Reynolds said the statistics indicate that there will not be many students carrying handguns on the campus of UNT or any public school.
In order to obtain a License to Carry in Texas, a person must be at least 21 years of age.
“Most of our students are under 21,” Reynolds said. “According to the Department of Public Safety statistics, most License to Carry holders are over the age of 30. And we know that our campus population is generally under that, so we don’t anticipate a lot of License to Carry holders on campus.”
