Campus carry is an issue being discussed on college campuses across the state of Texas right now. You have people on both sides of the fence when it comes to carrying a handgun on campus, or any gun for that matter.
Campus carry goes into effect in August 2016, which means that the new Texas law will permit individuals who have obtained a concealed handgun license to carry their loaded, concealed weapon into public college and university buildings. Public universities and colleges in the state of Texas are not, under the new law, allowed to declare their campuses to be gun free, but state colleges and universities may petition for certain areas on campus where concealed weapons will continue to be prohibited.
Students against campus carry are concerned that the police won’t be able to identify who is carrying. They are concerned that a student may go on a rampage and will cause other students who are armed to react badly or overreact in a panic situation – no one will know who the criminal is if everyone is shooting and/or armed.
On the other side of the fence, students who support campus carry say they would rather have a gun than not. They don’t want to be put in a situation where they can’t defend themselves. Their opinion is that the odds need to be stacked with law-abiding citizens, not against. If we are allowed to carry and defend outside of campus, why can’t we do so on campus?
I, for one, want to be able to protect myself and I do not believe that putting signs up saying, “guns are prohibited,” will prevent another attack on a college campus. Imagine if airports had signs that said, “No bombs allowed,” without including airport checkpoints. Not allowing law-abiding citizens to carry concealed handguns strips away our protection and leaves students and faculty vulnerable to criminals.
Consider what happened at Pearl High School in Mississippi: An assistant principal stopped a student rampage by getting his gun out of his truck and facing down the student without firing a shot. Two students died that day and seven were injured before the assistant principal stopped the gunman. The assistant principal held the student at gunpoint until the police arrived.
There are plenty of examples of school shootings that defend the right for campus carry. Since 2013 there has been 165 shootings in American schools. Beginning in August, nine states including Texas are in support of campus carry. After the law goes into effect, I for one, will feel much safer.
