ATLANTA — A last-minute legislative compromise would allow handguns on Georgia’s public college and university campuses.

The deal, approved early Friday morning, includes changes requested by Gov. Nathan Deal last year.

The Republican governor vetoed a campus carry measure last year, and he has until May to decide whether to sign this one.

“That’s up to him,” said House Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, after the session concluded just before 1 a.m. Friday.

Ralston noted that supporters of campus carry made several concessions.

“It’s an improvement,” he said of the bill. “It strengthened our Second Amendment protections here in Georgia. You don’t all the time score a touchdown on a play. I thought we got a first down on that at least.”

An earlier version allowed people on campus who hold a concealed weapons permit to take handguns everywhere except dorms, fraternity and sorority housing, and stadiums and athletic venues. Residents must be 21 to get a permit.

More restrictions have been added: preschools, some spaces where high school students take college courses, and faculty, staff and administrative offices.

“I see there are a lot of exceptions in this bill,” Rep. Jason Spencer, R-Woodbine, said to the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Mandi Ballinger, R-Canton, on the House floor.

Ballinger called the bill “an important first step for Second Amendment rights” in Georgia.

“Unfortunately, in the legislative process, we don’t always get everything we want,” she said.

The scaled-back measure also scrapped a proposal to waive the ban on preschools when there is more than three on a campus. Sen. Bill Heath, R-Bremen, said this week that this was meant to keep schools from “gaming the system.”

Carrying a handgun into one of the off limit areas would be a misdemeanor offense.

Georgia is currently one of 17 states that ban concealed carry weapons on campus. Two dozen other states, including Alabama, leave the decision to individual colleges and universities.

Supporters argue that Georgians should be able to defend themselves.

“I’ll boil this down to a very simple question,” Heath said Tuesday. “Do you believe that law-abiding, background-checked citizens should be prohibited from providing for their own protection just because they choose to go to a college?”

The bill passed out of the House with a 96-to-70 vote, with some Republicans joining the Democrats in voting against it. The Senate then voted 33 to 21 to send it to the governor’s desk.

Rep. Bruce Broadrick, R-Dalton, voted against campus carry earlier this month. He said Thursday that he did so after hearing from two Dalton State College professors who reported being threatened by a student and who asked him to oppose it.

That sparked a backlash from the advocacy group Georgia Gun Owners, which labeled Broadrick “anti-gun.” Broadrick said he has since requested that his earlier vote be changed. He supported the measure Thursday.

Jill Nolin covers the Georgia Statehouse for CNHI’s newspapers and websites. Reach her at jnolin@cnhi.com.