Texas Governor: Open Carry Laws Could Have Stopped OSU Attacker

Texas has an open-carry law on its college campuses, and had a similar law been in place in Ohio, students at Ohio State University could have acted quickly to stop an attacker who used his car and a butcher knife to target other students, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Tuesday.

"You have to be I think 21 years old to be able to do it, but for one, we've seen no incidents of anybody misusing a gun on campus," Abbott told Fox News' "Fox and Friends" program. "In instances like this, where kids on campus could have guns, they could have been able to respond initially. Fortunately, there is an American hero today and that is that law enforcement officer who was able to so quickly take down this kid."

Further, he said that allowing students to carry guns could deter some would-be attackers.
"I think that on a college campus like here in Texas, people will think twice before waging an attack like this knowing they would be gunned down immediately," said Abbott.

Monday morning, Somali-born Abdul Razak Ali Artan, 18, drove into a group of pedestrians on campus and then got out and began stabbing people with a butcher knife, before he was shot and killed by a police officer, and police said they are investigating if it was a terrorist attack.

The attacker has been in the United States since he was nine years old and was a legal permanent resident.

Abbott said that the potential for such violent incidents was what led him to withdraw his state from the refugee relocation process.

"I predicted this was going to happen," the governor said. "This refugee from Somalia who made the attack on Ohio State initially came into the United States to Dallas, Texas, and because I knew that refugees were coming in from terrorist-based countries, posing problems like this, I could not be an accomplice to importing terrorism into the United States of America."

And while the attacker was a child when he came in, there is a "higher probability" that when "refugees come in from terrorist-based nations, there's a higher probability something like this could happen."

Earlier this year, he pointed out, a refugee came into Texas, and was arrested for plotting to blow up a mall in Houston.

"This is something we can figure out," Abbott said. "This is something we should be on top of. It is insanity that the United States of America will not safeguard our people by bringing in people from terrorist-sponsored nations."

Abbott has also taken action to keep Texas' cities from becoming sanctuary locations that would not cooperate with federal immigration officials.

"I've used my powers as governor of Texas to withhold funds to cities or counties that are declaring themselves to be sanctuary cities," the governor said. "We're about to have a legislative session here and I've declared that we're going to pass a law banning sanctuary cities in the state of Texas."

Abbott said his withholding ruling has already caused the mayor of Dallas to back down from saying she would enforce laws from those seeking sanctuary.

The Republican governor also predicted that with President-elect Donald Trump, matters should be easier for himself and other state leaders, as before, it was like "having to push a big boulder up a steep hill," but now "we are on a level playing field."