Former House member Suzanna Hupp, who lost her parents in the Killeen Luby's massacre, testifies for open carry bills in House Homeland Security Committee on March 17, 2015.
Former House member Suzanna Hupp, who lost her parents in the Killeen Luby's massacre, testifies for open carry bills in House Homeland Security Committee on March 17, 2015. Bob Daemmrich

The same dayย the Texas Senate passed a bill to loosen state handgun regulations, a House committee Tuesday consideredย proposals to allow the open carry of handguns with a license and theย concealed carry of handguns on college campuses.

The House Committee on Homeland Security and Public Safety listened to public testimony onย House Bill 937ย by state Rep.ย Allen Fletcher, R-Cypress, which would allow students to carry concealed handguns on a college campus, andย House Bill 910ย by Committee Chairmanย Larry Phillips, R-Sherman, which would allow concealed handgun license owners to openly carry a handgun in public.

The committee did not vote on either bill.

An open carry bill similar to House Bill 910ย was tentatively approved by the Senateย 20 to 11 on Monday after several hours of debate. On Tuesday, the Senate gave the bill final approval and sent it to the House.

A University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll last month found a large majority of Texans areย opposed to open carryย with or without a license.

At a Capitol hearing Tuesday,ย Suzanna Gratia Hupp, a former state representative, spoke in favor of the campus gun measure.ย Hupp, a Republican whose parents were killed in the 1991 mass shooting at Lubyโ€™s restaurant in Killeen, was an advocate for concealed carry during her time as a lawmaker.

โ€œIf Iโ€™m a madman that wants to rack up a big body-bag count and beat the last guyโ€™s body-bag count, Iโ€™m not going to go to an NRA convention or the dreaded gun show,โ€ she said. โ€œIโ€™m going to go where the Legislature has said people canโ€™t protect themselves.โ€

Grace Chimene, a board member of the League of Women Voters of Texas, testified against both bills.

โ€œCollege students and professors should have complete freedom of speech to express opinions during lectures without the intimidation that is present when guns are in the room,โ€ Chimene said.

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Ryan McCrimmon was a reporting intern for The Texas Tribune in 2015. A graduate of Northwestern University, Ryan previously covered national politics and foreign affairs for the Medill News Service in...