NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Attorneys for three University of Texas professors were set to ask a federal appeals court Wednesday to revive their lawsuit against a law allowing people with concealed-handgun licenses to carry weapons on public campuses.
FILE – In this Oct. 1, 2015, file photo, protesters gather on the West Mall of the University of Texas campus, in Austin, to oppose a new state law that expands the rights of concealed handgun license holders to carry their weapons on public college campuses and as of Aug. 1, 2016, they can carry in campus buildings. Attorneys for three University of Texas professors were set to ask a federal appeals court Wednesday, July 11, 2018, to revive their lawsuit against the law allowing people with concealed-handgun licenses to carry weapons on public campuses. (Ralph Barrera/Austin American-Statesman via AP, File)
A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans was hearing the arguments.
According to court filings, the professors believe the presence of guns in their classrooms could discourage open academic discussion.
Last year, a federal judge in Texas dismissed the suit. U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel said they offered “no concrete evidence” to substantiate such concerns.
Yeakel said that, because they failed to clearly show they were harmed by the law, they had no legal standing to pursue the suit.
Attorneys for the professors — Jennifer Lynn Glass, Lisa Moore and Mia Carter — said Yeakel was wrong to dismiss the suit. In court briefs they said he had not given them sufficient opportunity to present evidence. They also said national studies and the views of national professional organizations, including the American Association of University Professors, attest to the harm guns in a classroom can do to academic freedom.
Attorneys for the state of Texas said Yeakel was correct to dismiss the suit, saying the professors’ fear “is subjective and completely dependent on the acts of third parties.”
There was no indication when the appellate judges would rule.
By KEVIN McGILL
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