In their continuing effort to turn the state of Texas into Deadwood, the Texas House approved “Campus Carry” last night. Senate Bill 11, authored by state Sen. Brian Birdwell (R-Granbury), easily passed the Texas House by a vote of 101 to 47.
Amendments to S.B. 11 allow for universities and health facilities to carve out gun-free zones, and force private universities to follow the lead of public universities.
Proud that campus carry passed the House before tonight’s midnight deadline. #txlege
? Tan Parker (@tparker63) May 27, 2015
Supporters of the “Campus Carry” bill argue that not allowing licensed students to carry handguns on school grounds violates their 2nd Amendment rights and could leave them vulnerable if an incident were to take place on campus grounds. Detractors of “Campus Carry,” including University of Texas System Chancellor William McRaven, are concerned that allowing students to carry guns on university campuses could lead to an uptick in accidental shootings.
Alas, the gun culture in Texas is immune to rational thinking and thus, stressed out college students are now allowed to be armed with Glocks as well as Bic pens. Though, it’s not as if arming people in educational institutions is not without precedent:
- Idaho Gov. Butch Otter signed a “Campus Carry” bill in 2014, allowing students, faculty, and visitors of Idaho’s college and university institutions to carry concealed handguns on campus. An Idaho State University chemistry professor subsequently accidentally shot himself in front of his students.
- The Colorado Concealed Carry Act went into effect in 2003. However, in 2012, a woman shot her co-worker at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical campus while patients were present.
- A new law in Kansas, effective July 2017, will allow for people to carry guns into any campus building in the state, unless the building has adequate security measures already in place. In July 2015, Kansans will no longer need a permit or training to carry concealed weapons in the state.
- A 2011 “Campus Carry” law in Mississippi stated universities and colleges can no longer prohibit concealed weapons on campus for those who have been adequately trained. Mississippi has the second-highest homicide rate in the United States at 7.4 per 100,000 people.
Further, Argyle Independent School District, in Texas, opened the 2014-15 school year notifying anyone that came in the vicinity of its campuses that its staff was armed.
Unfortunately, the old adage of “more guns, less crime” seems to continue in bastions of neurotic conservatism like Texas, even though the mantra of the NRA-coached Republican party may actually be the opposite of the facts. But, here we are, staring down the barrel of another piece of legislation that has less to do with public safety and more to do with obligations to campaign donors.
I suppose it goes without saying it will be a cold day in hell before I let my kids go to school in Texas.
