Arizona is one step closer to having guns on its university and community-college campuses.

The Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday passed Senate Bill 1474, which requires public universities and community colleges to allow anyone age 21 or older with a concealed-carry permit to carry a gun on campus. The schools can keep the guns out of buildings, stadiums and classrooms if they provide secure gun lockers.

The committee also passed a bill that would loosen restrictions on carrying guns in public buildings, including city halls, libraries or municipal swimming pools.

The bills now go to a vote of the full Senate and then to the House for consideration. If they pass the Legislature and Gov. Jan Brewer signs them into law, they would go into effect this summer.

Last year, Brewer vetoed similar measures, saying they lacked clarity. This year's bills have been revised.

If Brewer signs the new guns-on-campus bill into law, Arizona would become the fifth state in the nation to tie the hands of campus officials, who for now have the power to bar weapons.

Currently, it is illegal in 22 states to carry a concealed weapon on a college campus. In 25 states, including Arizona, the decision is left to the individual college or university. No Arizona college or university allows guns on campus.

Oregon, Utah, Wisconsin and Mississippi require campuses to allow concealed weapons on campus.

Supporters and opponents of the Arizona campus gun bill rallied at the Capitol before the hearing and then packed the hearing room to testify before the committee.

More than a dozen people spoke against the bill. Two, including the lobbyist for the National Rifle Association, spoke in support.

Jennifer Longdon, a Phoenix mother of an Arizona State University student and a survivor of gun violence, spoke against the bill. She said both she and her fiance were trained gun owners and were armed when they were hit by "random" gunfire in 2004. Longdon ended up paralyzed.

"This isn't a theoretical discussion for me," Longdon said. "In that moment when bullets start flying and adrenaline and fear are pumping, to expect an untrained person to act with clarity and precision is hubris."

Longdon said until now, her biggest fear for her college son was "some regrettable tattoo."

"To worry that a roommate might be a binge drinker and a gun owner at the same time brings a chill to what is left of my spine," she said.

University of Arizona assistant Professor Paige Scalf, a neuroscientist, said the human brain is not fully formed until age 25.

"This is not a population of people fully capable of making decisions," she said. "Students are passionate, stressed and sleep-deprived."

The Arizona Association of Chiefs of Police opposed the bill. Arizona State University Police Department Chief John Pickens testified.

"The intent may be good, but we believe this will result in unintended consequences," Pickens said.

He said the current requirements to get a concealed-carry permit in Arizona have been watered down and don't require enough hands-on training.

"There is no guarantee that a person has fired a gun in years, or for that matter ever fired the gun he or she is going to be carrying," Pickens said. "And we are dealing with an age group that a number of times doesn't always use the best judgment."

Tempe resident Christopher Bartow, who is not a university student, spoke in support of the bill.

"We are dealing with the subject of a fundamental right to self-defense," Bartow said. He took issue with suggestions that adults younger than age 25 weren't capable of acting responsibly. "None of our other fundamental rights are infringed upon just because we're under 25."

The committee passed the bill 5-3. Sen. Steve Yarbrough, R-Chandler, was the lone Republican dissent.

Sen. Judy Burges, R-Sun City West, said if young men and women are old enough to sign up for the military and serve the country, they are old enough to responsibly carry firearms on campus.

Sen. Steve Gallardo, D-Phoenix, has been a vocal opponent of the measure.

"Who wants the ability to have firearms on campus? It's the gun lobbyists," Gallardo said. "I'd be looking at this differently if students felt they were unsafe. But students are saying, 'We don't want this. We don't want to have to worry if someone next to us has a firearm.'"

Sen. Rick Murphy, R-Peoria, said this is not a matter of who wants it and who doesn't. "You either have a constitutional right or you don't," he said. "I prefer to be able to defend myself, and I think students have that same right."

Yarbrough said his no vote was based on the permit requirements being watered down over the past several years.

Brewer never comments on bills before the Legislature passes them, so it's unclear whether she would support a revised version of the legislation. She has, however, historically been a strong supporter of gun-rights legislation.

The committee also passed one other gun measure.

SB 1448, sponsored by Sen. Steve Smith, R-Maricopa, modifies the definitions of public buildings and public events to only apply to those with armed security. Under the bill, it would only be a crime to knowingly enter a public building or event with a gun if the entrances were secured by an armed guard. If there's no guard, there's no crime.

"If it is a public establishment, it should be secured," Smith said.

Arizona Association of Chiefs of Police lobbyist John Thomas spoke against this bill.

"City Hall would no longer be able to keep weapons out of the building unless there is an officer present whenever the building is open," he said.

This is one of several bills that would loosen gun restrictions in public buildings in various ways. Sen. Ron Gould, R-Lake Havasu City, who sponsored one of the other bills, admitted the bills still need work or will need to be somehow combined.

"There are government facilities that need to be secured, but does the swimming pool need to be secured?" Gould asked. "I would argue probably not."