Federal judge dismisses professors' campus carry lawsuit

FILE - Austin city council member Kathie Tovo (right) protests the campus carry law with a group called Gun Free UT on the steps of the tower on the University of Texas campus in Austin on Aug. 24, 2016. Friday, a federal judge threw out a lawsuit against campus carry that UT professors argued had a "chilling" effect on their free speech. less FILE - Austin city council member Kathie Tovo (right) protests the campus carry law with a group called Gun Free UT on the steps of the tower on the University of Texas campus in Austin on Aug. 24, 2016. ... more Photo: John Davenport, Staff Photo: John Davenport, Staff Image 1 of / 20 Caption Close Federal judge dismisses professors' campus carry lawsuit 1 / 20 Back to Gallery

AUSTIN — A federal judge tossed out a lawsuit filed last year by University of Texas professors who argued the state's new campus carry law "chills" their First Amendment right to free speech.

U.S. District Court Judge Lee Yeakel, from the Western District of Texas' Austin division, dismissed the suit Thursday, ruling the professors failed to prove an actual injury.

Yeakle also ruled the professors failed to prove how the alleged injury is connected to the attorney general or officials at UT, who are defendants in the lawsuit.

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The law went into effect in August of 2016, allowing students to bring guns onto campus and into classrooms. The law is unpopular at the flagship university. However, school leadership assembled a task force to figure out how to implement the new law on campus.

"The court's ruling today is the correct outcome," Attorney General Paxton said in a statement. "The fact that a small group of professors dislike a law and speculate about a 'chilling effect' is hardly a valid basis to set the law aside."

The law allows guns on campuses of higher education, but guns would have to be concealed and could only be carried by people at least 21 years old.