University students in Texas could soon be allowed to carry guns to class. The legislation, which has yet to be voted on, has been endorsed by more than half of the members of the Texas House who have signed on as coauthors of the bill. Two years ago the state senate passed similar legislation, but the House failed to come onside. This time removing restrictions on carrying a concealed weapon in one of Texas’s 38 public universities is much more likely.

While Colorado gives universities the option to permit guns on campuses, only Utah has legislation that mandates concealed weapons be permitted on all state owned property, including public universities. Texas could be the second state to pass such a broad law. Twenty-three other states have rejected legislation to permit guns on campus in recent years.

"This is about self-defense," said San Antonio Republican Sen. Jeff Wentworth, the legislation's sponsor. "It's about protecting lives of students who are totally vulnerable and defenseless and able to be picked off by a deranged shooter, as was the case in Virginia."