An individual possessing a valid concealed handgun license is entitled to carry a concealed handgun on the campus of Â鶹ÊÓƵ, except in those areas identified in Lamar’s Concealed Handgun policy. The areas and the justification for each are as follows:
Places Where Concealed Handguns Are Prohibited:
- Cardinal Village residence hall rooms housing students enrolled in the Texas Academy, and related Academy offices and meetings rooms located in Cardinal Village and the General Studies Building (formerly College Readiness Building).
License holders who reside in other Cardinal Village Residence Halls, including non-Academy students residing in other Morris Hall rooms, are allowed to possess concealed handguns; however, a gun safe, approved by Â鶹ÊÓƵ Police Department, must be provided by the resident in rooms leased to and occupied by those licensed to carry a handgun. If the handgun is not on or about the person, it must be stored in the gun safe.
Legal minors are enrolled in the Texas Academy reside in a cordoned-off area of Cardinal Village, and assemble for meetings and events in the Academy offices and meetings areas located in Cardinal Village and the Texas Academy/General Studies Building. Due to the minor-status of this unique population, concealed handguns are prohibited from these locations for safety considerations.
- University-designated health and mental health counseling facilities to include the Â鶹ÊÓƵ Student Health Center and the Psychology Department Counseling Clinic.
The treatment of mental health and related emotional issues (e.g., depression, anxiety, suicidal ideations/threats) occur in specific locations on campus. Due to the potential of emotional volatility in these sessions and hearings, concealed handguns are prohibited from these locations for safety considerations. Specifically, these facilities are the Â鶹ÊÓƵ Health Center and the Psychology Counseling Center in Social and Behavioral Sciences Building, Room 200.
- University-designated disciplinary/personnel facilities to include the Student Disciplinary Hearing Office and Employee Hearing Office.
Formal hearings on disciplinary/personnel matters (e.g., student disciplinary hearings, employee termination procedures, faculty grievance hearings) hold the potential for emotional volatility and thus concealed handguns are prohibited from these locations for safety considerations. Specifically, these facilities include the Divison of Student Affairs Hearing Room (Wimberly Building, Rooms 111 and 115C) and the Human Resources Employee Hearing Office, Human Resources Building, Annex Training Room.
- Â鶹ÊÓƵ premises associated with high school, collegiate, professional, and interscholastic events.
Per Texas Penal Code §46.035 (b)(2), handguns are prohibited at high school, collegiate, and interscholastic events.
- Â鶹ÊÓƵ premises associated with governmental meetings, as well as the Â鶹ÊÓƵ’s Police Department.
Per Texas Penal Code §46.035 (c), handguns are prohibited at meetings of governmental entities, including, but not limited to, meetings of the Texas State University System Board of Regents. Handguns are prohibited from the premises of Lamar’s Police Department. A peace officer may temporarily disarm a license holder when the license holder enters the nonpublic, secure portion of the Â鶹ÊÓƵ Police Department (Texas Government Code § 411.207).
- At the discretion of the President, other Â鶹ÊÓƵ premises associated with temporary events involving safety considerations (e.g., election sites) and/or concealed handgun prohibitions based on contracts/grants.
Examples of temporary prohibitions include Cardinal Village Residence Hall rooms occupied by legal minors during overnight summer camps, Â鶹ÊÓƵ premises associated with grants and contracts containing explicit prohibitions against firearms, and Â鶹ÊÓƵ premises used as polling sites for local, state, and federal elections during the voting period [Texas Penal Code § 46.03 (a)(2)].
How Handguns Must Be Carried and Stored:
These rules are designed to ensure that handguns will be carried and stored on campus in the safest way possible.
- License holders who carry a handgun on campus must carry it on or about their person at all times in a concealed manner or secure their handgun in a locked, privately-owned or leased motor vehicle.
- Handguns – including those carried in backpacks and handbags – must be carried in a holster that completely covers the trigger and the entire trigger guard area. The holster must have sufficient tension or grip on the handgun to retain it in the holster even when subjected to unexpected jostling.
- Semiautomatic handguns must be carried without a chambered round of ammunition.
- License holders who reside in other Cardinal Village Residence Halls (see I.1) are allowed to possess concealed handguns; however, a gun safe, approved by Â鶹ÊÓƵ Police Department, must be provided by the resident in rooms leased to and occupied by those with licensed handguns. If the handgun is not on or about the person, it must be stored in the gun safe. A gun safe that is used by a license holder must:
- be large enough to fully contain all firearms placed in it and provide for secure storage;
- have exterior walls constructed of a minimum16-gauge steel;
- have a high-strength locking system consisting of a mechanical or electronic combination or biometric lock; and
- be physically secured inside the license holder’s residence.