Gun control group to air anti-campus carry ads in Texas

AUSTIN - Two gun control advocacy groups will air ads in multiple cities across the state, including Houston and San Antonio, urging Texans to tell their lawmakers to oppose campus carry legislation.

Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund and the Texas chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America on Wednesday will release the ad entitled "Texas is Better than This." The buy will total around $80,000 and will include TV and digital ads on Facebook and Twitter in Austin, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio.

The ads highlights a recent Everytown poll that showed 66 percent of those surveyed responded "no" when asked "Do you think people should be allowed to carry concealed handguns in student dormitories?" When asked, "Do you think college students should be allowed to carry concealed handguns on college campuses?", 63 percent of those surveyed responded "no."

A recent Texas Tribune/UT poll, by contrast, showed 47 percent in favor of campus carry and 45 percent against.

A senate bill to allow properly licensed faculty, staff, students and the public to carry concealed handguns inside college buildings must pass just one more legislative hurdle - the state House - before it reaches the desk of Gov. Greg Abbott, who has said he will sign any bill that expands gun rights in Texas.

Last session, the House passed a similar bill, but not without including a provision that would have allowed public colleges to opt out of the legislation's mandates. Many higher education leaders in Texas, including University of Texas System Chancellor Adm. William McRaven, oppose campus carry.