The Northeast Texas Community College Board of Trustees approved its first policy to permit the carrying of concealed weapons on campus at its regular May meeting Tuesday evening.
This policy was prepared in accordance with a Texas law (SB 11) that will make it legal for licensed individuals to ?conceal carry? a handgun on public community college campuses beginning August 1, 2017. Each college was required to develop local policies for implementation of the new law. NTCC developed an internal taskforce that worked on the policy and feedback was sought from both students and staff.
?Our approach to a campus carry policy is pretty straightforward and in keeping with the spirit of the law. Those who are licensed to carry handguns will be able to do so anywhere on campus that is not legally prohibited or explicitly excluded,? Dr. Brad Johnson, NTCC President, said.
The policy requires that license holders conceal the weapon on their person at all times or secure it in a private vehicle. Those who carry on campus must store their weapon in a holster that completely covers the trigger guard area. It is the responsibility of the license holder to remain compliant with all state and federal laws pertaining to concealed carry, just as they are required to do in any other public space.
Only a handful of areas on the NTCC campus will be excluded under this policy.† Those areas include sporting and interscholastic events, governmental body meeting areas and in presence of school children where a school-sponsored activity is being conducted. Other excluded places in the NTCC policy include a small number of laboratories where dangerous chemicals are stored, as well as the campus testing center. The policy also allows the president to create temporary exclusion zones when particular activities are being conducted when there might be legal or safety concerns.
?Campus carry has been in effect at public four-year universities since last August. It has been implemented with relatively little disruption at those institutions and we anticipate that will be the case at our college as well,? Johnson said.
The NTCC Campus Carry policy can be viewed at†www.ntcc.edu/security.
May 25, 2017
