Handgun bills propose carrying concealed weapons on campus
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Photo and design by Tonya Torres: The Signal.
Photo and design by Tonya Torres: The Signal.
Mark Bownds
The Signal
On a hot day in August back in 1966, Charles Whitman, an engineering student at the University of Texas and a former Marine, climbed to the observation deck of the university’s tower and opened fire upon the students below.
Before getting shot and killed by an Austin police officer, Whitman killed a total of 14 people and wounded 32.
It was just last year at the University of Texas when a student, armed with an AK-47, fired shots in the air while on campus. This time the only one killed was the gunman after he ran into the school’s main library and committed suicide.
It is incidents such as these, including the Virginia Tech massacre April 16, 2007, that has Texas legislators pushing for a law that would allow college students, faculty and staff to arm themselves for protection. Currently there are three bills pending that, if passed, would allow individuals to carry concealed handguns on college campuses. They are House Bill 86, House Bill 750, and Senate Bill 354.
These upcoming bills have become a concern primarily dividing the two major parties. Many Republicans argue that properly trained citizens on a college campus should have the right to defend themselves and protect others at the same time, while the majority of the Texas Democratic Party call for “weapons-free institutions of higher learning.”
Texas State Representative Chuck Hopson (R-Jacksonville) said that although the gun bills are controversial, they are something that need to be put into law.
“I think it’s a good thing,” Hopson said. “The downside is that if there’s a big shootout and a lot of people are involved with it, law enforcement people could have the difficulty of determining who the good guys are and who the bad guys are. The good side of it is that you have people that are mature; they have passed their concealed weapon license, and they’re there. So if something bad happens on campus, they’ll be there with a weapon, and they don’t have to wait until the law enforcement people get there.”
Gun-Free Kids is one of the many organizations campaigning against the carrying of concealed weapons on campus. President Andy Pelosi says legislators are not solving the problem, instead they are creating others.
“It’s a bad idea because we think for the most part that the campuses are safe enough environments,” Pelosi said. “We’re just asking for trouble by allowing guns on campus. Think about having guns in dormitories, or at parties, and where does the gun get stored? They’re going to get stolen, that’s what’s going to happen. What kind of safety are you really going to have? I just think that it’s increasing the risk of domestic violence, suicides and things along those lines.”
Hopson said that not everyone would be allowed to carry a concealed weapon.
“These people carrying are people that have passed all the things required to have a concealed handgun license,” he said. “These are people that are over 21 years of age, so they’re considered an older student. You can’t go to college at 17 and be able to carry a gun; it just allows people that are there with training and have a gun to be able to respond a lot faster than the police can.”
Pelosi said his organization does not put much stock into the criteria of a concealed handgun license holder (CHL).
“I think that the level of training for a CHL holder is pretty low,” he said. “Even trained police officers only hit their target 25 percent of the time, and they are taking active training, so we’re not convinced that CHL holders are going to be able to prevent another Virginia Tech?”
In fact, it was announced in December that Virginia Tech shooting survivor, Colin Goddard, who is now Assistant Director of Legislative Affairs for the Brady Campaign, is actively protesting the gun bills in Texas.
“Introducing guns is just going to create unsafe environments for the students and faculty,” Pelosi said. “If students bring guns into the classrooms, will professors start thinking twice about how they grade and how they teach? We need to look at ways to improve campus security first, as opposed to the mindset that arming everybody is the best protection?”
UHCL Chief of Police Paul Willingham said regardless of the outcome, he will continue to uphold safety on the campus.
“I am sworn by oath to enforce the laws of the land,” Willingham said. “If one of the concealed carry bills currently up for consideration by the 82nd Texas Legislature passes and signed into law, I will enforce and/or protect the rights of person’s in accordance with that law.”
(Copied from the post I made on the PDF link for this issue)
I believe a lot of opposition to this law is based on a misconception of what it does.
First of all, the picture on the front page does not depict what it would be if the law was passed. The picture shows a tactical shotgun sticking out of the main compartment. This bill involves the right for those who have a Concealed HANDGUN Licence to be able to conceal on campus. So the picture would be of someone intending harm on others, not a CHL holder. CHL holders know there are legal ramifications if their firearm can be seen by others, so a backpack would be avoided since they are frequently accessing it throughout the day. If you want to see how CHL holders conceal, search Google Images for “deep concealment holsters”.
Another thing I frequently see brought up is underage drinking, drug use, or the pressures of college causing a person to “snap” and go on a shooting spree. This wouldn’t apply towards a CHL holder because in order to be licensed, besides being 21 or older, is undergo a deeper background check on a federal level along with a class by an licensed instructor.
The background check isn’t the same as if you were purchasing a handgun. The CHL background check pulls from criminal, psychological, and financial records and have many factors that would disqualify you from being licensed. Any person with history of aggressive behavior or substance abuse would be denied. So if a student in college ages 18-20 were convicted on alcohol or drug related charges, even if a misdemeanor, they wouldn’t be able to receive their CHL. You could even be denied for defaulting on student loans.
The course covers conflict resolution, laws and consequences for breaking them, physical affects of a shooting situation on the body, proper storage of your firearm, and qualifying with your firearm at various distances. There are several written tests throughout the course with a comprehensive test at the end. These courses are instructed by licensed individuals that are taught to look for signs of mental instability. They are also given the authority to deny the student from receiving a CHL by issuing a legal statement that goes on their permanent record. Instructors take this responsibility seriously because if they allowed an individual that was mentally unstable to receive their license, they would be under legal investigation that may result in the loss of their instructors license. Getting a CHL is a long process that opens the applicant’s life up to be viewed and analyzed under a microscope. So why would someone, who is intended on harming others, open their lives up for legal investigation like that?
CHL holders understand the risks and responsibilities associated with concealed carry and usually don’t stop their training once they receive their license. Most join organizations such as the United States Concealed Carry Association(usconcealedcarry.com) or communities like concealedcarry.net that keep licensees up to date on laws and is a source of knowledge sharing. There are also many courses that are offered to increase their skills with a firearm in the unfortunate event they must use it to defend themselves. So to view a CHL as a vigilante or a “trigger happy” cowboy is seeing them as something they are not.
Next thing that I frequently hear is how those who support this bill becoming law want students to bring firearms on campus. This bill isn’t encouraging the purchase of firearms by students. This bill is saying that those who have been licensed to conceal carry, and happen to be college students, shouldn’t be left defenseless while they are on campus. If a active shooter situation occurred today, most colleges instruct students and faculty to barricade the doors, turn off the lights, and hide out of sight until police arrive and neutralize the threat. Until its neutralized, students are left waiting in the dark hoping the next person opening the door isn’t the shooter. If it is, the only defense they have is to throw books at them. If the law passes, the shooter has more than books to fear.
In Conclusion, if this becomes law and CHL holders are able conceal on campus, student’s daily lives won’t change much. The worries will remain on studying for the big test, project due dates, and raising tuition costs because they are concerns all students share. For those few students and faculty who also are CHL holders, they would feel better prepared for the unfortunate chance that, on that day, someone decided to inflict horrors on their fellow classmates.
To add: Police don’t shoot first and ask questions later. If they arrive on scene and see a student with a gun, they don’t know if thats a student that has managed to wrestle away the firearm of the shooter. Also, CHLs exist outside of campus so police already are trained how to handle it.
The student from Virginia Tech, Colin Goddard, after hearing the shots fired on campus, was able to bring his phone out and dial 911. He spoke with disbatch for 5 minutes before the shooter entered his classroom and shot him and his classmates. This would have been plenty of time for a CHL holder to respond and then defend himself, as well as his fellow classmates. Gun-Free zones do not prevent criminals from carrying on campus. They only make it easier for those intending to do harm to others.
A&M hosted a debate recently on the subject and its available for online viewing. https://mediamatrix.tamu.edu/streams/440002/Concealed_Carry_Debate_2-24-11 It is almost 2 hours long, but offers the choice to download for later viewing.