After many weeks of debate, Student Senate officially passed the Texas A&M Personal Protection Bill, which advocates for concealed carry in campus buildings.
The concealed carry bill passed with a vote of 38-19 at the Oct. 31 Senate meeting, but was stalled after a motion was made to reconsider the bill. At Wednesdays meeting, the motion to reconsider the bill failed, officially passing the bill out of Senate.
Scott Bowen, senior chemical engineering major and speaker of the Senate, said the bills next stop is the desk of the Student Body President John Claybrook.
At this point it comes to me and I either have the chance to sign it or veto it, Claybrook said. Im going to be looking forward to discussing the pros and cons of both with my team [Thursday] and looking forward to having a decision about it in the next few days.
Claybrook said Student Senates willingness to tackle controversial issues is great, saying it allows himself and the Senate the opportunity to fulfill their responsibilities of serving students.
Its our job and our duty to represent the voice of the students, Claybrook said. I want to be sure that this is something that is representative of the student body because that was what I was elected to do.
Claybrook said he has a week to decide before the bill automatically passes.
A&M policy allows concealed carry on campus, but not inside buildings. The Senate bill calls on the University and the Texas Legislature to mandate that concealed carry by allowed on all public university property.
Bills that were presented but not voted on include The Lone Star Showdown Bill, which advocates for reinstating the annual football game between Texas A&M and the University of Texas.
Cary Cheshire, junior political science major, is the bills author and argued that the annual football game between A&M and U.T. brings enormous economic benefits to the state and would be beneficial to A&Ms football program.
With the rigor of SEC scheduling, we feel like an easy win against a weaker team would be beneficial to Texas A&M, Cheshire said.
Another bill presented was The Not-So Controversial Bike Rack Bill, which advocates for more bike racks to be installed outside the Commons Lobby main entrance.
Transportation services gave a presentation before the meeting and reported that Transportation Services will install more bike racks in the area and other areas over Christmas Break.
The Cookie Crusade Bill was also presented, which advocates for the return of cookies to Sbisa Dining Hall.
Chris Woolsey, sophomore political science major, is the bill author and expressed disappointment that cookies have disappeared from Sbisa Dining Hall.
As cookies are a very important tradition of on-campus living, their return is of the utmost importance, Woolsey said.
Bills that were presented will now go through a committee revision process and be voted on in subsequent Senate meetings.