Study: Guns on Campus Will Cost Texas Universities $47M

A fiscal analysis submitted to the Texas state Senate estimates the costs of allowing students to bring guns onto college campuses at nearly $47 million. The figure is disputed.

It would cost the University of Texas and University of Houston systems almost $47 million combined to allow students to bring guns on campus, according to a fiscal analysis of a bill unveiled by the Texas state Senate earlier this year.

The analysis, which was done by Texas’ higher education systems, includes updates to security systems, campus police units and the creation of gun storage facilities over the next six years. The costs could be transferred to students or taken from education and research programs, according to news-journal.com. Some Texas senators question the analysis, and it is not included on the fiscal note of Senate Bill 11, which would allow students to bring guns on campus if they have a concealed handgun license.

The cost of permitting guns on campus has nation-wide implications, as 10 states currently have bills in congress that deal with the issue of students’ gun rights on college campuses. They are Texas, Florida, Nevada, Indiana, Montana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee and Wyoming.

The analysis reports it will cost the University of Texas, which had over 52,000 students enrolled in 2013, $39 million, while the University of Houston, which had over 39,000 enrolled students in 2013, would have to pay $8 million.

Photo Wikimedia Klobetime

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