Arizona considering classroom guns

• Tweet

PHOENIX, Feb. 27 (UPI) -- Texas and Arizona are among the dozen legislatures nationwide considering the legalization of guns in the classroom, gun control advocates say .

Lawmakers in Arizona will consider three bills that would let people over the age of 21 carry guns on campuses, The New York Times reported.

There are also three gun bills pending in the Texas Legislature. Supporters of the legislation say teachers and students are targets of would-be gunmen.

Still, the easing of gun laws has plenty of critics, especially in the wake of the January shooting in Tucson that left six people dead and 13 wounded.

Administrators and campus police chiefs at Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University and the University of Arizona oppose the measures, as do most students, the newspaper said.

Arizona State Rep. Jack Harper, a Republican, introduced a bill that would let professors carry guns.

"When law-abiding, responsible adults are able to defend themselves, crime is deterred," Harper said.

Arizona's gun lobby, which has numerous allies in the state Legislature, is pushing bills that would relax gun control.

"We can't rest on our laurels," said Todd Rathner, head of the Rathner & Associates lobbying firm, which wants the Colt named the state's official firearm. "We're making inroads, but I've been in politics long enough to know that the pendulum swings and there is no way to know if the pendulum won't swing in the other direction."

So far, Utah is the only state that allows guns to be carried on all campuses, the report said.