Gabriella Morrongiello reports at Campus Reform:

Gun rights groups nationwide spent the weekend celebrating after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) signed a bill allowing students to carry concealed firearms on public college and university campuses throughout the state.

Abbott signed the hotly contested legislation into law at a shooting range Saturday, just months after the bill was first introduced to state legislators. In addition to campus carry, the Republican governor authorized licensed Texans to openly carry holstered handguns in designated concealed-carry locations.

"The police can’t be everywhere at once,” McLennan County Sheriff Parnell McNamara is quoted as stating in February testimony to the Texas state legislature. "We’ve had a lot of active shooters who've come into schools," the sheriff said. "These shooters are usually cowards, and cowards love gun-free zones."

"Indiana University senior Crayle Vanest sits on the national board of Students for Concealed Carry and says the organization has seen female membership increase 'massively' over the last year," Campus Reform reports. 

Melissa Jacobs reports at Fox News:

The near-certain signing into law of an open-carry gun measure will send Texas back to the days of the Wild West -- at least legislatively.

The bill, passed by the state Legislature and expected to earn Gov. Greg Abbott’s signature within the next week, would reverse a 140-year-old ban on carrying handguns in plain sight. Despite its reputation as a pro-gun state, Texas is one of just five with an outright ban on open carry.

"It’s a thumbs up for law-abiding citizens," said Rep. Debbie Riddle. Riddle, a Republican who represents part of Houston and co-sponsored the bill. "Everywhere there is a denial of Second Amendment rights, crime is through the roof. It’s a deterrent. If someone is going to rob a convenience store and there are other people inside with guns on their hips, they might think twice."

"As a gun-owning Texas mom, this is not the Texas I want for my family or community," said Sandy Chasse of the Texas chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, according to Fox News.

On the other hand, "criminals aren’t afraid of prison, they’re afraid of getting shot,” noted C.J. Grisham, president and CEO of Open Carry Texas," Fox News reports.