MONTGOMERY, Ala. --- A state senator, motivated by deadly campus shootings in Virginia and Illinois, drew opposition from Alabama higher education officials and got nowhere with his bills to allow professors and some students to carry guns on Alabama campuses.

The Senate Education Committee split largely on party lines Wednesday when it voted down the bills by Sen. Hank Erwin, R-Montevallo. Republicans mostly supported the bills, and Democrats were united in opposition.

"I gave it my best shot, and the committee, representing the people of Alabama, said no," Mr. Erwin said after the votes.

Mr. Erwin began working on his bills last April after a gunman at Virginia Tech killed 32 people. He increased his push after a suicidal gunman killed five people at Northern Illinois University in February.

Alabama's public universities, like most colleges around the country, ban guns on campus.

During the committee's meeting, the Alabama Higher Education Partnership, which lobbies on behalf of Alabama's 13 public universities, opposed Mr. Erwin's bills, along with officials from individuals campuses.

Bill Jones, a spokesman for the University of Alabama System, said college campuses are crowded and that allowing people who aren't trained officers to start shooting would endanger many people.

"This, I'm afraid, is a very dangerous bill," said Mr. Jones, a former law enforcement officer.

Gordon Stone, the executive director of the Alabama Higher Education Partnership, said emotions can run high on campuses, and guns don't need to be added to the mix.

"Consider what it might be like at an Auburn vs. Alabama football game if the students had firearms?" he asked the panel.

Mr. Erwin said his bills had strict guidelines for students to carry guns.

"It's not just an open Wild West," he said.

Utah, the first state with such a law, has not experienced problems, Mr. Erwin said.