San Antonio University Placed on Lockdown after Open Carry Rifle Owner Walks on Campus

In San Antonio, Our Lady of the Lake University was placed on lockdown as a man was seen on campus grounds with an open carry rifle.

On Wednesday afternoon, university officials sent an alert to faculty and students to stay in place after reports of an armed man on campus. One student had retreated to the campus television studio where others had taken shelter, not knowing the extent of the threat.

The sheltering occurred after university officials issued a tweet alerting students to the potential threat

Ultimately, the man turned out not to be a threat, but rather was a simple rifle owner taking advantage of the state’s “open carry” law allowing him to walk around in public with his long gun strapped across his back. The law took effect on January 1 after Texas Governor Greg Abbot signed it into law.

But the man made the mistake of walking on the property encompassing a private university, one of a long list of private institutions that have opted out of allowing guns on campus, in spite of the new law allowing the open carry of weapons. By and large, officials at public universities oppose the new law but are unable to opt out given their state funding.

The man reportedly was contacted by police and asked to leave the premises, not for provoking a widespread scare by toting his gun — something he’s now allowed to do with the advent of “open carry,” but because of his inadvertent and alleged trespassing on private property.