The Places on Campus Where Concealed-Carry Is Most Controversial

T wo years ago, Georgia’s Republican governor, Nathan Deal, signed a law allowing licensed gun owners to carry their weapons into churches, schools, bars, and some government buildings. But when a bill that would allow people to pack heat on college campuses flew through the legislature and landed on his desk this month, he balked.

Disciplinary hearings, campus day-care centers, and faculty and staff offices were places that gave the governor pause, prompting him to ask lawmakers to carve out more gun-free, or at least gun-optional zones. They refused, so now he has until May 3 to sign the legislation or veto it. If he does neither, it automatically passes and Georgia will become the ninth state with a campus-carry law on the books.

In both Georgia and in Texas, which approved a less-restrictive law last year, anyone 21 or older with a weapons license will be allowed to carry a concealed gun anywhere on a public-college campus unless the area is specifically excluded.

In both states, faculty members and top administrators overwhelmingly opposed the measures, which they argued would make their campuses more dangerous. When it became clear that lawmakers were going to pass the legislation anyway — arguing that more guns meant more people able to defend themselves — the debate shifted to which areas could be carved out as exclusion zones.

In some states, the possibility of negotiation over which campus locations can exclude firearms has gun enthusiasts and skeptics sketching out complex scenarios. They involve checkpoints, lockers, and areas of potential confusion, including questions about security in buildings where some professors will be allowing armed visitors and others won’t.

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Mr. Deal, a gun-rights champion who prides himself in his “A” rating from the National Rifle Association, would seem an unlikely obstacle to a campus-carry bill in Georgia. But despite his early support for the bill, his office issued a statement this month expressing concerns and hinting he might veto it.

“As a lifetime defender and staunch supporter of Second Amendment rights, Gov. Deal has signed every pro-gun bill to reach his desk,” it read. Areas he’s worried about include campus-based day-care centers and places where students under college age, including those taking courses that count for both high school and college credit, are learning.

He also thinks that governing boards should be able to make “reasonable rules” about allowing students to carry guns to disciplinary hearings or to faculty offices.

In the past few weeks, Mr. Deal has received a fusillade of arguments from both sides.

A coalition of student, faculty, and advocacy groups said they collected more than 30,000 signatures on petitions, including one from MoveOn.org, asking the governor to veto the bill.

He’s also gotten an earful from the NRA and a group called GeorgiaCarry.org, which accused him of “backpedaling” on his support for gun rights.

Among its arguments for opposing exclusion zones: “High-school students already are around guns” in Georgia, which has a “robust youth shooting program.”

Mr. Deal isn’t saying which way he’s leaning.

“I’ve listened to comments and expressions of opinion from both sides on the issue,” the governor told reporters last week. “And I do consider them. I consider all of those opinions.”

When the bill’s backers defied the governor, refusing to introduce any new gun-free zones, at least one activist from the opposing camp was pleased.

“We were glad that no amendments were made because it would have made his job easier,” said Andy Pelosi, executive director of the Campaign to Keep Guns Off Campus. “I hope he’ll have the backbone to either sign or veto the bill. We don’t think guns belong anywhere on campus.”

Many people at the University of Texas at Austin agreed with that sentiment.

In February the president, Gregory L. Fenves, reluctantly released a policy statement outlining how the gun law, which will take effect August 1 for four-year campuses and in 2017 for community colleges, would be carried out on the flagship campus. He largely followed the advice of a task force that tried to designate gun-free areas that would satisfy safety concerns without violating the law.

Texas lawmakers allowed university officials some leeway to create gun-free zones as long as they don’t have the effect of “generally prohibiting” guns on campuses.

Firearms won’t be allowed, for instance, in laboratories on the Austin campus where something could blow up if a gun accidentally discharges. They’ll also be off limits in classrooms where children are learning.

Following are a few of the contested zones in Texas and Georgia where pro- and anti-gun groups argued exclusions should or shouldn’t apply. The Texas examples are from the flagship campus where the idea of allowing guns in campus buildings drew the most controversy.

Disciplinary Hearings

At Texas, students or faculty members facing formal disciplinary hearings wouldn’t be allowed to carry guns into the hearing room. In Georgia they would. This was another one of the governor’s “areas of concern.”

The Georgia bill’s primary sponsor, Rick Jasperse, said that people who are intent on committing crimes would be undeterred by signs banning guns from places like disciplinary hearings.

“If you’ve done some crazy thing that’s going to get you kicked out, is a sign going to mean anything to you?” the Republican lawmaker asked in an interview on Tuesday.

“The good guy — the person who is doing the right thing — is going to follow the rules. The person who wants to do you harm won’t care. Our bill is simple and easy to understand. We want the good people of Georgia to have the opportunity to defend themselves.”

Dormitories

At Texas, guns will be banned from dormitories with a few exceptions, like when pistol-packing parents are visiting. Mom and Dad will be allowed to keep their guns. Students will be free to carry their weapons into common areas like lounges and study rooms, but they’ll have to lock them back up in their cars when they hit the sack. Students living in off-campus university apartments could store their weapons in gun safes there.

In Georgia, guns would also be off limits in dorms. Mr. Jasperse said students would have to leave their guns in their cars when they went home, and if they didn’t have a car, “they’d be out of luck.” Lawmakers in both states pointed out that very few students living in dorms are 21 or older, meaning they can’t get a concealed-carry licenses anyhow, so banning guns there wouldn’t affect many people.

Faculty and Administrative Offices

Faculty, staff, and students at Texas who have their own offices will get to decide whether to allow armed visitors. If concealed-gun holders want to visit, the occupant of the gun-free office will have to arrange to meet them elsewhere. “Faculty, staff and student offices have traditionally been places where members of the university community can have open dialogue on academic, research, performance, or disciplinary matters,” the University of Texas at Austin policy statement says. People might shy away from sensitive topics if the person sitting on the other side of the desk might be armed, critics said.

In Georgia, despite the governor’s objection, lawmakers gave faculty and administrators no such discretion.

Day-Care Centers and Classes for Pre-College Students

Texas bans guns in day-care centers and settings where other children and dual-enrolled students are learning. The Georgia legislation wouldn’t, and that’s another objection the governor has raised.

The statewide lobbying group GeorgiaCarry.org sees no reason to keep guns out of rooms where toddlers are playing. “In Georgia’s 240-year history as a state, it never has been a crime to carry a gun in day care centers,” the state group recently said on its website. “Day care centers have a much lower crime rate than colleges. We’re just trying to make colleges as safe as day care centers already are.”

Classrooms

Despite vigorous opposition from many faculty members, lawmakers in both Georgia and Texas decided that students should be allowed to bring guns into classrooms. The Austin campus concluded that requiring students to check their guns into lockers as they hurried to class could be more dangerous than allowing them to keep the weapon holstered. “Every time a handgun is transferred into a locker, there’s a danger of an accidental discharge,” Steven J. Goode, the law professor who led a committee on the policy, told The Chronicle.

In Georgia, lawmakers recognized that not everyone would be comfortable packing heat, so on the final day of the legislative session, they offered another option: Tasers and stun guns. They’re legal now, and you don’t have to be 21 to carry one on campus.

Katherine Mangan writes about community colleges, completion efforts, and job training, as well as other topics in daily news. Follow her on Twitter @KatherineMangan, or email her at katherine.mangan@chronicle.com.