Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) on Monday sought to dismiss what he called a “frivolous” preliminary injunction requested by three faculty members at the University of Texas who want the ability to make their classrooms gun-free zones now that concealed carry is allowed at public universities.
“It is a frivolous lawsuit and I’m confident it will be dismissed because the Legislature passed a constitutionally-sound law,” he said in a statement. “There is no legal justification to deny licensed, law-abiding citizens on campus the same measure of personal protection they are entitled to elsewhere in Texas.”
The professors filed the lawsuit in July and requested a preliminary injunction before classes start up again this year, according to the Dallas Morning News. A court will consider the professors’ request on Thursday.
The new law went into effect on Monday, and allows students to carry concealed handguns in most places on campuses. Schools were allowed to set up gun-free zones on campus, such as in sports arenas and clinics, but universities were limited in the restrictions they could implement.
In his brief filed on Monday, Paxton wrote that allowing concealed carry in university classrooms “furthers public safety, an individual’s right to self-defense, and an individual’s Second Amendment rights.”
