Federal Court Rejects Campus Carry Challenge

by Molly Prince

A federal court upheld a prior dismissal of a challenge to Texas’s campus carry law Thursday, providing individuals with a concealed carry permit the ability to carry a firearm on public university property.

The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected to revive the lawsuit by three University of Texas at Austin professors, upholding a 2015 law that the trio challenged in July 2016, yet was ultimately dismissed.

The professors claimed that the aforementioned law would violate an individual’s constitutional rights of free speech, due process and equal protection and would “have a substantial chilling effect on class discussion.”

The three-judge panel rejected the assertion, arguing that there is not proof of any impending harm to rationalize such fears.

“The lawsuit was filed because the professors disagreed with the law, not because they had any legal substance to their claim,” said Ken Paxton, attorney general for the state of Texas, according to The Texas Tribune.

“The right to keep and bear arms is guaranteed for all Americans, including college students,” Paxton continued. “The Fifth Circuit’s decision prevents that right from being stripped away by three individuals who oppose the law enacted by the Legislature.”

The professors do not plan on filing a further appeal.

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