By allowing guns in buildings on college campuses, Texas lawmakers are knowingly allowing guns in the many different kinds of facilities found on a campus. While SB 1164 sailed through the Texas Senate yesterday and today, several sensible amendments to exclude particular facilities on campus failed resoundingly. Let's take a look at all of the places on campus where a majority of Texas Senators think we should have guns:
- The On-Campus Health Center. UT's Health Services center is located in the Student Services Building, which would now allow concealed guns inside. So while we don't allow guns in stand-alone hospitals here in Texas, now you can bring one into your on-campus medical provider. They did exempt teaching hospitals today, however. So I guess guns are dangerous in some educational/medical settings, but not others.
- The On-Campus Mental Health Center. Just a few floors up from health services in UT's SSB is mental health services, which will now allow concealed guns on the premises. Now, maybe a suicidal student with a gun in Mental Health will actually have a chance of getting the help they need before it's too late. But I'd rather the student not have a gun in their hands in the first place.
- The On-Campus Science Labs. Especially the ones filled with highly reactive, highly explosive chemicals, in which an accidental firing can cause more than just mere death. This one is particularly rich with irony: the UT Dallas Chemistry lab prohibits food, drinks, cigarettes, short sleeves, shorts, and sandals in the lab, due to the inherent danger of the chemicals used therein. But explosive firearms? Bring 'em in!
(Ed. Note: After posting yesterday I received word from folks involved with this bill--final language has not been written yet, but apparently it will not permit guns in bars as I previously stated. However, the language does not yet make clear about science labs, campus health clinics, or on-campus charter school facilities and other facilities with children.
Two other reasonable amendments failed, which suggests that this is more about the ideology of putting guns everywhere than it is about safety.
One amendment would have allowed students to request a room without guns in it. Now tell me this--if concealed guns are all about personal liberty, what about my personal liberty to be in a room without guns? As an instructor, do I not have the personal liberty to work in a classroom where I know I won't get shot? Not in Texas!
One other failed amendment, authored by bill co-sponsor Sen. Lucio, would have allowed the Coordinating Board to change the law if they studied the issue and realized that safety was getting worse on campus. This is a pretty reasonable amendment: if guns make campus less safe, let's reconsider. Its failure, however, suggests that Lucio and other supporters of guns in schools don't actually care about campus safety. They just support the ideology behind extending the gun rights.
The fact of the matter is, this isn't about safety. This was never about making campuses safer for students, teachers, or anyone else. Campus already is safer: 93% of violent crimes against students happen off campus.
This bill is about extending the influence of the NRA and the conservative policies they support, pure and simple.
So, argue all you want about how we really, really need guns in campus chemistry labs and mental health clinics. The fact of the matter is, those of us who will be most directly impacted by this bill oppose it overwhelmingly. University administrations, faculty, staff, public safety officers, and students across Texas oppose guns in campus buildings. Rather than listen to us and the reasons why we don't want or need guns, Texas lawmakers are being swayed by the extreme end of the gun lobby, who refuse any reasonable, sensible limits on carrying guns.
In the six semesters I have worked as an instructor and teaching assistant here at UT, handling up to 75 students per semester on my own, I have never needed or wanted a gun in my classroom. I haven't wanted or needed a gun in my hands, or in those of my students. Many of my students have been 21 years of age or older, and legally eligible for a CHL. And frankly, if most of them can't remember to do their reading and pass their quizzes, I question whether they have the maturity and intelligence to handle a concealed weapon after only one day of training.
I've had students try to intimidate me, I've had students who seemed unstable due to stress, lack of sleep, family problems, you name it. Thanks to this bill, now I have to worry that if I refuse to change the student's grade or accept the late assignment, they might just pull out a gun. Frankly, I just don't see how that benefits anyone. |
