As of August 1st, Texas will see the law (Senate Bill 11) permitting individuals to carry a concealed handgun on college campuses will go into effect. On July 28th, UTSA sent out an e-mail to students with some new updates, specifically revised exclusion zones or areas where concealed handguns are not permitted. Below is a breakdown of the revised exclusion zones along with information provided in the Campus Carry Policy.

1. Faculty and Staff Offices

This applies to offices with one sole occupant, not generally open to the public. This comes from the fact that law has traditionally given the occupant of the office substantial control over his or her space. In order to comply with policy, occupants will be required to give verbal notification to office visitors and when possible, written notice, this does not apply to office lobbies.

Something that is important to note is that if the occupant's duties usually entail meeting with those who may be license holders, then occupants will need to make reasonable arrangements to meet at another location.

Students, faculty, and staff who hold licenses may then want to double check before meetings as to whether or not they may bring their handgun into someone else's office space.

2. Shared University Residence Halls and Housing Units

The concern that brings on this exclusion zone is the fact that the majority of students living in university residence halls are under 21 and ineligible to obtain a concealed handgun license. This means that because most rooms have a shared area and are not considered "private," a resident might be subject to have a firearm through no choice of their own.

A strong safety concern is the storage of firearms. The university will not provide facilities or spaces for the storage of handguns so students would have to rely upon their roommates to provide secure storage. This increases the chances of the handguns being stolen or tampered with.

3. Laboratories with combustibles, flammables, or other dangerous materials

Laboratories include:

These are exclusion zones because of the presence of dangerous chemical, biological, explosive or metal components that would result in widespread harm if a discharge was to take place.

These areas are restricted due to their nature and accessing requires donning on and off of protective gear which might make necessary the removal of concealed firearms. This is impractical for the owners and potentially increases the chances of mishandling, theft, or accidental discharge.

4. Counseling and health services centers

Facilities providing counseling and health services are places that fall under Texas Penal Code which provides an exclusion for carrying firearms on the premises of hospitals licensed under Chapter 241 of Texas Health and Safety Code. Because of the services provided, the various centers, both at the main and downtown campuses, are by extension covered.

Some safety concerns include the chance that students may require physical examination of body that would ask for removal of a handgun and make mishandling easier. Some of the centers on both campuses provide mental health services to people under a lot of stress or who are experiencing issues, be it behavioral or mental, that could create concern for the safety of those currently in the facility.

5. Facilities providing childcare for minor children

The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services prohibits the possession of a firearm at licensed childcare centers as well as facilities with before- and after-school care.

In the case of the UTSA Child Development Center, the facility provides services to small children (infants to 4 year olds) and safety concerns arise from the possibility of children gaining access to a firearm.

6. Roadrunner Cafe and John Peace Library dinning areas

As many students have seen, both the Roadrunner Cafe and the JPL welcome school tours ranging from elementary school all the way to high school. Well, the Texas Penal Code prohibits weapons in pre K thru 12 schools. This also applies to grounds and/or buildings where school sponsored activities take place.

Because participants of the tours are children under the age of 18, they are by extension covered by the Penal code making the JPL dinning area and the Roadrunner cafe exclusion zones.

7. Athletic venues

Here, more than one facility is covered: Recreation Wellness Center, Intramural playing fields, Convocation Center, Park West Athletics Complex, Main Campus Baseball, Softball and Tennis Complexes, Physical Education Building, Athletic annex buildings, etc.

The Texas Penal Code prohibits firearms on premises where a high school, collegiate, professional sporting event, or interscholastic event is taking place. At the same time, the Government Code requires that license holders carry their firearm on or about their person, adding that they cannot display said firearm in plain view of the public.

Some safety concerns also exist whenever changing rooms are involved; things would get complicated as firearms in view of the public would break the Government Code as well as possibly increase the chance of thefts of guns from lockers. For this reason, make sure to double check whether or not the Texas Penal Code and/ or the Government Code apply to a specific athletic venue or event.

8. Youth events sponsored by UTSA or other schools

The exclusion zone in this case is similar to that which makes the Roadrunner Cafe and the JPL dinning areas exclusion zones. Texas Penal Code prohibits weapons in pre-K thru 12 schools as well as on grounds or buildings where school-sponsored activities are taking place. Because the participants of these events are children under the age of 18, the Penal Code applies.

Something to keep in mind for license holders is that whenever a location is in use for youth events, or a specific activity is going on, signage and notices will mark the area as an exclusion zone to the general public.

9. Facilities with special uses, e.g. JPL Special Collections area, housing used for summer camps and orientation, official proceedings or hearings locations, the Multidisciplinary Studies Building testing Center, the UTSA Police Department, and Central Receiving

- JPL Special Collections Area: This space has rare or irreplaceable materials. If an accidental discharge took place, heavy damage would be caused to the materials.

- MS Testing Center: Companies providing the tests needed for the function of the center have contractual requirements that often prohibit personal items or specifically weapons inside the testing center. Because the services provided are needed and of value to the UTSA community, it would not be beneficial if the contracts with test providers where canceled.

- Official proceedings or hearings locations: The Texas penal Code prohibits firearms on premises of any government court and any Formal Disciplinary hearing and/or grievance action can be similar to court proceedings. Because of the nature of the hearings and potential strong emotional charge, the absence of a firearm reduces the safety concerns for all people in attendance.

- UTSA Police Department: Because delicate situations, such as arrests, occur within the premises, University police requires that their spaces be restricted. However, there are no restrictions in the lobby area of the building as this is a public space.

- Central Receiving Warehouse: Often times there are deliveries and/or short term storage of combustible, dangerous materials destined for the different labs on campus. The possible discharge of a firearm in this environmeant could lead to widespread harm. Another factor is that requirements established by the Texas Government Code to obtain a license do not include specific training of handguns in similar facilities.

- Housing used for summer camps and orientation: Texas Penal Code prohibits firearms on the premises where a high school or interscholastic event takes place. Summer camps and orientation have similar population thus, they are also governed by the Penal Code. A significant number of participants for both are in grades K-12, because they have the opportunity to reside on-campus in the summer, UTSA owned residence halls have been designated as exclusion zones.

To see the full campus carry policy and more details on all exclusion zones, visit http://www.utsa.edu/campuscarry/policy.html