A professor at Texas Woman's University in Denton has come under fire for writing a controversial opinion piece claiming an impending law that allows firearms to be carried on college campuses could see an inflation in grades out of fear and intimidation.

Controversial: Assistant sociology professor Jessica Gullion believes a new Texas carry law will see a spike in student grades out of teacher fear

Jessica Gullion, an assistant professor of sociology at the university, believes that allowing students to carry guns will drastically change the power dynamic between teachers and students when discussing grades.

In a piece for Newsweek, she wrote: 'Will we soon see a new sort of grade inflation, with students earning a 4.0 GPA with their firepower rather than brainpower?'

Gullion cited past experiences in being intimidated by unhappy and upset students - and how that would be overhauled if a weapon were involved.

'Allowing students to carry weapons to class strips off a layer of safety,' she wrote.

'Students are often emotional and can be volatile when it comes to their GPAs.

'Who would want to give a student a low grade and then get shot for it?'

The National Rifle Association have since slammed Gullion's beliefs, saying her opinions were deluded.

'Indeed, aping the irrational fears, paranoid delusions, or cultural biases of one's teacher is far more likely to prop up one's GPA than lawfully and unobtrusively carrying a firearm of which the teacher is unaware,' the NRA wrote on its website.

Campus: Jessica Gullion is an assistant professor of sociology at Texas Woman's University in Denton

Similiarly, pro-gun website Ammo Land said Gullion's ideas went against 'Second Amendment rights'.

'For those paying for their kids’ college educations, consider that this is what passes for academic discussion of firearms policy in today’s institutions of higher learning,' the website said.

'Allowing students to carry weapons to class strips off a layer of safety

'In nearly every state that has a Right-to-Carry law, as the measure was being debated, gun control advocates frantically predicted scenarios of Wild West-type shootouts in the streets.

'This, of course, has not come to pass.

'Instead, modern America’s proliferation of firearms and lawful public carry have coincided with historically low rates of violent crime.'

But, as Gullion noted in her oped, a student at Purdue University in Indiana last year shot his instructor in front of a classroom of students.

In another incident, a student at Northern Virginia Community College attempted to shoot his math professor on campus in 2009.

Before that, in 2000, a graduate student at the University of Arkansas shot his English professor.

However, eight states allow firearms on college campuses, and 11 states are now considering similar legislation.

Right-to-carry: The Texas Legislature is set to approve a bill that would allow college students to carry firearms to class. Pictured here is a gun rally in Houston in July 2013

At the weekend, the state Legislature passed a measure, called 'campus carry', that would allow licensed gun holders to carry firearms on school grounds, according to Fox News.

It is expected to be signed by Gov. Greg Abbott and will go into effect next fall and in 2017 for community and junior colleges.

Texans with concealed handgun licenses have been able to carry on college campuses for 20 years, but not in buildings.

Gullion wrote in her Newsweek piece: 'We know that some students will carry guns whether it is legal or not. One study found that close to 5 percent of undergraduates had a gun on campus and that almost 2 percent had been threatened with a firearm while at school.

'Many schools are highly competitive and require certain GPAs for admission.

'Students on scholarships and other forms of financial aid must maintain high grades to keep their funding.

'It’s no surprise that some students resort to any means necessary to keep up their GPAs.'

Gullion also recounted a time she gave a B to a student, who then brought a 'muscle-bound man to class' with her.

'He watched me through the doorway window for the entire three hours of the class, with his arms folded across his chest,' she wrote.

As another example: 'An international student once cried in my office and begged me to change his F to an A, as without it his country would no longer pay for him to be in the U.S. I didn’t. He harassed me by posting threatening messages on Facebook.'

Gullion wrote a research book, 'October Birds: A Novel About Pandemic Influenza, Infection Control, and First Responders', that was nominated for the International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry 2015 Qualitative Book Award, and is about to publish a second book on fracking.