KEN PAXTON 

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

November 29, 2016 

The Honorable Abel Herrero Opinion No. KP-0120 

Chair, Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence 

Texas House of Representatives Re: Authority of a junior or community 

college to prohibit the carrying of concealed 

handguns in classrooms or other areas where 

minors attend class or are routinely present 

(RQ-0109-KP) 

Post Office Box 2910 

Austin, Texas 78768-2910 

Dear Representative Herrero: 

You seek an opinion on several questions relating to the authority of a junior or community 

college to prohibit the carrying of concealed handguns in classrooms or other areas where minors 

attend class or are routinely present. 1 Specifically, you ask: 

Question 1: Can a junior/community college prohibit handguns 

in the classrooms on the college campus, if minor children may 

attend classes in any or all of the classrooms on that campus? 

Question 2: May handguns be prohibited during special 

programs where minors will be present and in all areas where 

minors are expected to appear? 

Question 3: For programs that take place over several weeks 

and are directed at minors (e.g. College for Kids), may handguns 

be prohibited in all areas where minors may congregate? 

Question 4: May handguns be prohibited on· campuses which 

offer childcare centers? 

Request Letter at 2. 

'See Letter from Honorable Abel Herrero, Chair, House Comm. on Crim. Jurisprudence, to Honorable Ken 

Paxton, Tex. Att'y Gen. at 2 (May 24, 2016), https://www,texasattomeygeneral.gov/opinion/requests-for-opinion-rqs 

("Request Letter"). 
The Honorable Abel Herrero - Page 2 (KP-0120) 

Passed by the Eighty-fourth Legislature, Senate Bill 11 ("S.B. 11 ")amended provisions in 

chapter 411 of the Government Code and chapter 46 of the Penal Code. See Act of May 31, 2015, 

84th Leg., R.S., ch. 438, §§ 1-6, 2015 Tex. Gen. Laws 1723, 1723-26.2 As added by S.B. 11, 

subsection 411.2031 (b) of the Government Code expressly authorizes a license holder to carry a 

concealed handgun on the campus of an institution of higher education. See TEX. Gov'T CODE 

§ 411.2031 (b ). Government Code subsection 411.2031 ( d-1) authorizes the president or other 

chief executive officer of an institution of higher education to "establish reasonable rules, 

regulations, or other provisions regarding the carrying of concealed handguns by license holders 

on the campus of the institution or on the premises located on the campus of the institution." Id. 

§ 411.2031 ( d-1 ); see also id. (requiring the president or other chief executive officer to consult 

with students, staff, and faculty about the "nature of the student population, specific safety 

considerations, and the uniqueness of the campus environment"). Yet, subsection 411.2031 ( d-1) 

expressly prohibits the president or chief executive officer of an institution of higher education 

from establishing any "provisions ,that generally prohibit or have the effect of generally prohibiting 

license holders from carrying concealed handguns on the campus of the institution." Id.; see also 

Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. No. KP-0051 (2015) at 2 (concluding that "[i]f an institution prohibited the 

carrying of concealed handguns in a substantial number of classrooms, a court would likely 

conclude that the effect would be to 'generally prohibit'license holders from carrying concealed 

handguns on campus, contrary to the Legislature's express requirements"). Thus, as a junior or 

community college is subject to this provision, it may not adopt any rule or regulation that 

generally prohibits or has the effect of generally prohibiting a license holder from carrying a 

concealed handgun on campus. See TEX. Gov'TCODE § 411.2031(a)(2) (defining "institution of 

higher education" by reference to Education Code section 61.003), TEX. EDUC. CODE§ 61.003(8) 

(defining "institution of higher education" to include a public junior college). 

Your questions presuppose a different standard due to the presence of minors. Nothing in 

S.B. 11 expressly excepts from the concealed carry authorization areas of a campus of an institution 

of higher education in which minors may congregate. Relevant here, subsection 46.03( a) of the 

Penal Code generally prohibits a person from carrying firearms and other specified weapons on 

"the physical premises of a school or educational institution." TEX. PENAL CODE § 46.03(a); see 

id. § 46.01(3), (5) (defining "firearm" and "handgun"). Here, a "school or educational institution" 

is distinguished from an "institution of higher education" and does not include the premises of a 

community or junior college campus. See TEX. Gov'T CODE § 411.2031, TEX. EDUC. CODE 

§ 61.003(8) (defining "institution of higher education" with definition that does not include 

primary or secondary schools); see also Tex. Att'y Gen. L0-92-42 at 2 n.2 (noting the term "school 

or educational institution" means a "public primary or secondary school or a primary or secondary 

private or parochial school"). This language of subsection 46.03(a) refers to the premises of 

particular schools without regard to the nature of the activity. See TEX. PENAL CODE§ 46.03(a)(l). 

Thus, this part of subsection 46.03(a) does not operate to prohibit concealed handguns from the 

premises of a junior or community college campus. 

2S.B. 11 is generally effective as of August 1, 2016. See Act of May 31, 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., ch. 438, 

§ 8(a), 2015 Tex. Gen. Laws 1723, 1726. For public junior colleges, it takes effect on August 1, 2017. See id § 8(d). 
The Honorable Abel Herrero - Page 3 (KP-0120) 

Subsection 46.03(a) also prohibits a person from carrying firearms and other specified 

weapons on "any grounds or building on which an activity sponsored by a school or educational 

institution is being conducted." Id § 46.03(a)(l). This language is limited, not by location, but 

rather by activity. See id Such an activity is one sponsored by a school or educational institution, 

which again does not include an activity sponsored by a junior or community college. Unless the 

classes or special programs about which you ask are actually sponsored by a school instead of the 

community or junior college, this phrase similarly does not prohibit concealed handguns on a 

junior or community college campus. Cf Request Letter at 1 (stating that "[m]any junior and 

community colleges" have early college high school programs). By its plain language, subsection 

46.03(a)'s prohibition is based on premises and activities, not on the demographics of the people 

in those locations or on the people participating in those activities. See Kia Motors Corp. v. Ruiz, 

432 S.W.3d 865, 869 (Tex. 2014) ("The plain language of a statute is the surest guide to the 

Legislature's intent."). 

Moreover, by specifically excluding from the firearm and weapons prohibition in 

subsection 46.03(a)(l) the "premises of an instltution of higher education or ... any grounds or 

building on which an activity sponsored by the institution [of higher education] is being 

conducted," the Legislature clearly reiterated its intent to allow concealed handguns on college 

campuses. TEX. PENAL CODE § 46.03(a)(l)(B); see also TEX. Gov'T CODE § 411.203 l(b) 

(authorizing a license holder to carry a concealed handgun on college campuses). Accordingly, 

while section 46.03 prohibits firearms and other weapons from certain locations at which minor 

children may be a predominant population, we cannot conclude the Legislature intended section 

46.03 to impose a general prohibition against firearms and other weapons from a location, 

particularly college campuses, due to the mere presence of minors. This is especially true given 

that the Legislature has not prohibited in that section firearms in a number of locations where 

minors may congregate, such as shopping malls, movie theaters, museums, and music venues. See _ 

TEX. PENAL CODE§ 46.03. 

You raise Attorney General Opinion KP-0051, in which this office examined provisions of 

S.B. 11, to determine the extent to which an institution of higher education may prohibit the 

concealed carry of handguns on its campus. See Request Letter at 1. You tell us that your questions 

arise, in part, from statements in Opinion KP-0051. See id.; see also Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. No. 

KP-0051 (2015). As you point out, the opinion provided: 

As an example, some institutions of higher education have grade 

school classrooms on their campuses. Given that the Legislature 

made it a criminal offense to carry a firearm on the physical 

premises of such a school, rules regulating the carrying of concealed 

handguns in such grade school classrooms would be consistent with 

the Legislature's intent. 

Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. No. KP-0051 (2015) at 1-2. This statement serves to illustrate the point that 

while S.B. 11 does not authorize an institution of higher education to enact rules that have the 

effect of generally prohibiting license holders from carrying concealed handguns on campus, it 

does allow such institutions to enact reasonable rules regarding certain types of classrooms and 

other areas in certain circumstances. See id. 
The Honorable Abel Herrero - Page 4 (KP-0120) 

Thus, generally speaking, a junior or community college may not categorically prohibit 

concealed handguns from the junior or community college campus. But as authorized by 

Government Code subsection 411.2031 ( d-1 ), the president or other chief executive officer of the 

junior or community college may establish rules, regulations, and other provisions that 

accommodate the unique nature of a particular campus provided that such rules, regulations, or 

provisions do not "generally prohibit or have the effect of generally prohibiting license holders 

from carrying concealed handguns on the campus of the institution." TEX. Gov'T CODE 

§ 411.2031 ( d-1 ). Applying these principles to your specific questions, a junior or community 

college may not adopt a blanket prohibition against concealed handguns in all of its classrooms 

merely because minors may attend or be present in any or all classrooms. See Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. 

No. KP-0051 (2015) at 2. Nor may a junior or community college adopt a blanket prohibition 

against concealed handguns at all special programs simply because minors may be in attendance. 

Yet, a junior or community college is authorized to establish reasonable rules that take into account 

the "nature of the student population, specific safety considerations, and the uniqueness of the 

campus environment." TEX. Gov'T CODE § 411.2031 ( d-1 ). Such rules could prohibit concealed 

handguns in specific classrooms and campus areas at times where there may be a congregation of 

minors, as well as specific rooms where child-care services are provided, so long as those rules do 

not operate to "generally prohibit or have the effect of generally prohibiting license holders from 

carrying concealed handguns on the campus of the institution." Id. 
The Honorable Abel Herrero - Page 5 (KP-0120) 

SUMMARY 

Pursuant to amendments made to chapter 411 of the 

Government Code and chapter 46 of the Penal Code by Senate Bill 

11 from the Eighty-fourth Legislature, a junior or community 

college may not categorically prohibit concealed handguns from the 

locations you identify due to the presence of minors. Under 

Government Code subsection 411.2031 ( d-1 ), the president or other 

chief executive officer of the junior or community college may 

establish reasonable rules, regulations, and other provisions 

regarding the carrying of concealed handguns by license holders that 

accommodate the unique nature of a particular campus provided that 

such rules, regulations, or provisions do not generally prohibit or 

have the effect of generally prohibiting license holders from 

carrying concealed handguns on the campus of the institution. 

JEFFREY C. MATEER 

First Assistant Attorney General 

BRANTLEY STARR 

Deputy First Assistant Attorney General 

VIRGINIA K. HOELSCHER 

Chair, Opinion Committee 

CHARLOTTE M. HARPER 

Very truly yours, 

~?~ KEN PAXTON 

Attorney General of Texas 

Assistant Attorney General, Opinion Committee