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Texas varsities to allow students to carry guns on campus

Agency Reporter


USA- Universities in Texas are set to be forced to allow students and academics to carry guns on campus, in a victory for a firearms lobby unbowed after last month's massacre in Arizona, the Telegraph reports.

 A new law that looks certain to pass through the Texas legislature would mean that its 38 public colleges, which are attended by half a million students, must permit concealed handguns on site.

It would become only the second state, after Utah, to enforce such a rule.

More than 20 states have rejected similar proposals introduced since the Virginia Tech massacre in April 2007.

At present, colleges in Texas - along with churches and businesses - are free to ban firearms from their premises. Guns are prohibited from university buildings, dormitories and surrounding grounds.

The plan is likely to astonish most who recall the mass shootings at Virginia Tech, where a student killed 32 people, and in Northern Illinois the following year, where five people were murdered.

It also comes just six weeks after six people were killed and 13, including the United States Congresswoman, Gabrielle Giffords, were wounded during a shooting spree in a supermarket car park in Tucson, Arizona.

Texas for Gun-free Schools, a group campaigning against the measure, said that it was supported by only one in four Texans and just 15 per cent of students.

"Guns do not belong in classrooms, and the incredibly low violent crime rate on college campuses demonstrates the success of this policy," the group said.

While the plan provoked anger among opponents, supporters said that allowing everyone to carry a hidden weapon was the only way to prevent more massacres...

"It's strictly a matter of self-defence," said Jeff Wentworth, a Republican state senator. "I don't ever want to see repeated on a Texas college campus what happened at Virginia Tech." "Some deranged, suicidal madman goes into a building and is able to pick off totally defenceless kids like sitting ducks."

Before Virginia Tech, the University of Texas was the site of America's worst college shooting, when a student killed 16 people and wounded dozens more in August 1966.

Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, a pro-gun group, said crime rates at universities in Colorado had dropped since the state allowed them to permit guns on campus.
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12166300684?profile=originalThe glamorous lovers’ day celebration on Monday turned bloody at the University of Lagos (UNILAG) when gunmen killed two students. Daily Sun gathered that the clash was between two rival cult groups, namely, Black Axe and the Buccaneers,’ over a female student allegedly snatched by the Capone of the Black Axe for Valentine celebration.

 

The action of the Capone , the source said did not go down well with the other group leading to the clash.
A student who witnessed the shooting said besides the two cult members who were shot dead, about four others sustained injuries and were ferried out of the campus by their leaders to shield their identity.

The sources said the cult members who carried out the attack were not UNILAG students but members from another campus, adding that the attack was carried out in a commando style with sporadic shooting.
An undergraduate student of English Department told Daily Sun that the Buccaneers’ group attacked the Black Axe members while another student returning from the Mosque said those who carried out the killing were not from UNILAG because they did not cover their faces.

It was learnt that as soon the shooting started, students scampered for safety while others took cover behind the wall and under cars packed around, while others ran into the halls to avoid being hit by stray bullets. 
A senior lecturer who confirmed the killings said the university management had met to curtail any reprisal attack while security personnel had taken over the investigation of the deadly cult clash.
When Daily Sun visited the troubled institution yesterday, there was uneasy calm, as most staff and students rebuffed efforts made by the reporters to get their comments.

However, one of the students who resides at Sodeinde Hall, said there was sporadic gunshots outside the premises which caused panic everywhere. 
It was gathered that the crisis, which erupted when the students were at the peak of lovers’ day celebration, created stampede on the campus as people ran for safety.

One of the victims of the attack reportedly ran into Sodeinde Hall for help, from where he was taken to the hospital.
Although the Hall Master of Sodeinde Hall declined comments on the issue, one of the officials, who wouldn’t want his name published, said the attack could not be linked to any cult group. He said there was increasing speculation that the perpetrators of the attack could be fighting for love. Efforts made by Daily Sun our reporter to ascertain the identities of the victims were unsuccessful.
The news bulletin of the university, Information Flash (ISSN 08195540) also captured the incident, while assuring the staff and students of the university of adequate security.

“The attention of the universities authorities has been drawn to the incident which occurred in one of the Halls of Residence in the late hours of Monday, February 14, 2011 where two persons were reportedly injured in fracas. The university management has commenced investigation into the unusual incident, in particular at a time when preparation for the first semester examinations due to commence on February 21, 2011 are in top gear. Security has been intensified to ensure safety of life and property on campus. Law enforcement agents have been involved to assist the university in this respect,” it said. 
Daily Sun learnt that students are leaving the campus because of the fear of reprisal attack while some parents called their wards on phone to return home until the situation is brought under control. 

The Deputy Registrar Information of UNILAG, Mr. Dare Adebisi refused to pick his calls or replied to text message sent to his phone.
When the Lagos Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. Samuel Jinadu (DSP) was called thrice, he promised to contact the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in the area and did not call back as at the press time....

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