Texas Campus Carry Law Now Active
Cue progressive fear-mongering
As of today, Texas’ Campus Carry law is effective.
Texas’ law is not a blanket invite for any and all gun owners to bring firearms on college campuses. Only Concealed Carry permit-holders are allowed to pack heat on campus (minimum age to do obtain a CHL in 21), and even then, certain buildings are off limits. Open carry is not permitted.
Private universities were allowed to opt-out of the law, and most did, including Baylor, Texas Christian University, Rice University and Southern Methodist University.
The debate has highlighted cultural differences between two of the state’s largest public universities — The University of Texas and Texas A&M University. Texas A&M, a historically conservative institution welcomed campus carry, while professors at the other school in Austin filed suit claiming campus carry was an infringement of their first amendment rights.
Earlier this month, at least three University of Texas at Austin professors filed a lawsuit over the state’s new campus carry law.
Jennifer Lynn Glass, Lisa Moore and Mia Carter want a federal judge to block the law. They are suing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, UT Austin President Gregory Fenves and the UT regents to do so.
“Compelling professors at a public university to allow, without any limitation or restriction, students to carry concealed guns in their classrooms chills their First Amendment rights to academic freedom,” the professors argue in the lawsuit filed in U.S. district court in Austin earlier this month.
Some professors across the state have said that they think that campus carry will stifle heated discourse inside classrooms and lecture halls.
The argument, or fear, is that students carrying guns will in some way influence the way that some material is taught or discussed.
One University of Houston professor thinks such concerns are overblown.“It’s an absolutely unfounded fear,” Jacob Smith, who teaches courses at UH as he works toward a doctorate in economics, said in February when many UH professors protested the law. Like many supporters of the new law, Smith said he wants to be able to protect himself and mentions all the alerts from UH about armed robberies and break-ins he receives.
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According to data from the Texas Department of Public Safety, college-age Texans aren’t the ones getting the majority of licenses to carry. Back in 2015, just under 10,000 Texans under 24 years of age were getting those licenses. The majority of Texans getting license-t0-carry certifications were between the ages of 35 and 65.
Meanwhile at Texas A&M, Residence Life is prepping for gun safes. Dorm-living concealed carry permit holders wanting to keep their firearms with them on campus must rent or purchase a gun safe from the university.
Exclusion zones include sporting events, places determined to be “a significant risk of substantial harm,” and any federal property, like presidential libraries and museums.
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Comments
Rights and responsibilities.
open carry is not permitted
This makes sense. The value of the Second Amendment with respect to self-defense pertains to risk management. It does not entitle people to carry arms to intimidate or threaten other people. Ideally, the gun (scalpel, vacuum, etc.) will not be visible until there is cause to wield a weapon.
No discussion of dual-use tools and behaviors is complete without the obligatory counsel: choose life, not abortion.
Can you explain how one might be intimidated beyond a reasonable doubt by a holstered pistol?
I haven’t remarked upon the form of carry.
I recognize the natural and Constitutional right to “keep and bear” Arms.
I also recognize two points of popular contention: intimidation and threats, which may justify government intervention. Both concerns are easily remedied with concealed carry, or perhaps a holster to control impulsive use.
These are the points exploited by the critics. Are there any reasonable infringements to “keep and bear” Arms? Does the type of Arm matter? Does the context matter? Does the circumstance matter?
Here’s your post in its entirety.
“Rights and responsibilities.
open carry is not permitted
This makes sense. The value of the Second Amendment with respect to self-defense pertains to risk management. It does not entitle people to carry arms to intimidate or threaten other people. Ideally, the gun (scalpel, vacuum, etc.) will not be visible until there is cause to wield a weapon.”
So yes, you did imply that open carry is a form of intimidation. A weapon that is safed with its muzzle pointed away from everybody while it is being carried is not intimidation. Note that I am not saying that a weapon that is being actively aimed, with or without proper trigger discipline, is not intimidation, because it is.
If the weapon is being carried in a safe manner (that is in accordance with basic firearms safety), I do not care whether or not it is a long gun or a handgun, because it is directly under the control of its lawful user and there is no justification for the use of deadly force. That, I believe, is the standard to which one must be held in order to infringe upon the right to carry.
I generally agree that open carry is not in itself intimidation. But I’d consider the classic western scene of the outlaw drawing back his duster and hooking it behind the revolver grip. All he has really done is gone from concealed to open carry, But he has implied a message at the same time that has at least a whiff of intimidation with it. Obviously there are several objections to the analogy, but I hope th point is understood that open carry introduces some gray area or claims of gray area that concealed carry does nothave to contend with.
Snowflakes.
Unfortunately, snowflakes vote. Rubbing their noses in it is a good way to get them to vote against us.
Interestingly, the citizens of open-carry states seem to avoid dying en mass at the sight of a pistol.
Maybe people get used to it… Food for thought.
In CA prior to 2012, it was legal to open carry an unloaded gun without any permit necessary. When OC activists decided to push that as a way to obtain a more friendly OC law, the snowflakes revolted and the law was changed to require a permit for OC of unloaded guns, permits were added for long guns, and gun rights suffered a setback. The snowflakes do revolt if frightened.
In VA we have had permitless OC for 100+ years. You rarely see it. When you do, it’s usually during hunting season and in rural areas.
A fascist who uses force to stifle dissent then projects that tendency onto others. As liberal professors have been using the force of their tenure and control of the classroom to stifle open discussion of issues, they then project that tendency onto gun owners.
Simple, isn’t it?
Carrying a holstered firearm is not carrying “to intimidate or threaten other people.” A holstered gun being carried in public only becomes a potential threat to others if actually employed by the bearer. On the other hand, the automobile becomes a threat to everyone in or near its path as soon as it starts to move, and a large part of the operator’s duty is to assure that it remains under his or her control such that injury to others and damage to property does not result. The common use of an automobile represents an imminent and constant threat that a carried weapon does not. It’s just that the public is inured to the threat posed by motor vehicles (due to life-long familiarity with them) and has been conditioned to fear firearms (by the media and certain pols) way out of proportion to the actual threat they pose. They never see a headline “200 Million American Gun Owners Hurt No One Yesterday.”
The reason why most jurisdictions require a permit for concealed carry is because concealed carry was once considered the greater threat because the intent of concealed carriers was suspect – hence the vetting of concealed carriers by permit systems. Open carry has always been considered “honest carry.” Some idiots complain that with open carry “you can’t tell the good guys from the bad guys.” This implies that this is possible with concealed carry, when it certainly is not, making the argument as viable (and as ridiculous) against concealed carry as against open carry.
Texas A&M, a historically conservative institution welcomed campus carry, while professors at the other school in Austin filed suit claiming campus carry was an infringement of their first amendment rights.
That almost makes me regret laughing at and repeating “Aggie jokes” when I was in junior high in the 70s.
Almost.
The best Aggie jokes are written by Aggies
One of my favorites…
“What do you call an Aggie five years after graduation?
Boss”.
I remember one from during the Iran Hostage Crisis.
Three college students… one from UT, one from Rice, and one from A&M decide to go rescue the American hostages. Unfortunately, they are all captured and sentenced to be shot at dawn, on three consecutive days.
On the first day, they take the Longhorn out to be executed, but he has a plan. As the detail commander calls out “Ready… Aim…” the UT student yells out “Tornado!”. All the Iranian soldiers run for cover, and the student runs away and escapes.
Seeing how well that worked, the Rice student decides to try the same thing the next day. “Ready… Aim… ” and the Owl shouts “Earthquake!” The soldiers run for safety and the Rice student escapes.
The Aggie, seeing how simple it is, knows that he can get away, too. Waiting for just the right time, after the guard captain calls out “Ready… Aim…”, the Aggie yells at the top of his lungs, “Fire!”
(yeah, I know, I said I was in junior high school)
This is also the anniversary of the Texas University Tower shootings.
It should be remembered that the use of firearms by civilians was credited by the police with saving many lives.
From the bad guy’s Wikipedia page:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Whitman
“Approximately 20 minutes after first shooting from the observation deck, Whitman began to encounter return fire from both the police and armed civilians. One Texas Ranger used a student as spotter to help locate the sniper. At this point, Whitman chose to fire through waterspouts located on each side of the tower walls. This action largely protected him from gunfire below, but limited his range of targets.[79]”
This little detail is being conspicuously left out of today’s news coverage.
My son (a long time supporter of Campus Carry) found a really annoying guideline at his campus. In the main auditorium used for concerts and recitals, students can carry if they are seated in the audience of foyer areas, but once they step on the stage or backstage area they are prohibited. No one has gotten a clear answer on the choir loft that is above the foyer and behind the audience.
Joke’s on them….. I’ve been carrying in the audience for years rather than leave my firearm unattended in my vehicle in a public parking lot. All of my kids chose to discretely carry both on campus and off during their college careers for a variety of reasons.
discretely carry
This is important. Rights are preserved. There is no cause for concern or grievance. The critics are silenced.
My daddy is of the opinion that some people in Texas want to be a deputy sheriff because then they are allowed to openly carry a gun. He adds that, the kind of person who wants to be a deputy sheriff for that reason, is definitely NOT who you want to hold that office.
Now, that right there is funny. Everybody knows that Texas Rangers are the best. That’s why I carry a baseball all the time. Just incase I find three milk bottles stacked just so.
As “AnarchyPrime” posted in support of open carry at another site: “You cannot win acceptance until you come out of the closet.”
“Some professors across the state have said that they think that campus carry will stifle heated discourse inside classrooms and lecture halls.”
Professors are worried about stifling discourse–now THAT’S funny! I’d wager that that these same concerned professors would themselves permit no opposing viewpoints on bathroom use preferences by the transgendered.
Texas Campus Carry
Senate Bill 11 Effective: August 1, 2016
Caption: Relating to the carrying of handguns on the campuses of and certain other locations associated with institutions of higher education; providing a criminal penalty.
Authorizes a license holder to carry a concealed handgun on or about the license holder’s person while the license holder is on the campus of an institution of higher education or private or independent institution of higher education in this state. Open carrying of handguns is still prohibited at these locations.
Authorizes an institution of higher education or private or independent institution of higher education in this state to establish rules, regulation, or other provisions concerning the storage of handguns in dormitories or other residential facilities that are owned or leased and operated by the institution and located on the campus of the institution.
Requires the president or other chief executive officer of an institution of higher education in this state to establish reasonable rules, regulations, or other provisions regarding the carrying of concealed handguns by license holders on the campus or on specific premises located on the campus.
Authorizes posting of a sign under Penal Code Section 30.06 with respect to any portion of a premises on which license holders may not carry.
The effective date of this law for a public junior college is August 1, 2017
So you’ve got a big hogleg on your hip and you’re in a crowded elevator. There’s a nineteen-year-old behind you with deficient impulse control.
Best scenario is you’ve got an upscale holster and you’re wrestling with the guy for the release movement. He doesn’t know it, but you’re going all over the place with the bozo.
IMO, OC for the CC guys who inadvertently reveal. Now they won’t be arrested when they reach for their wallet.
There is a danger to campus carry that is seldom mentioned. It is confrontation with Lefturd activists. There is an increased chance of a carrier being assaulted, and with attempts to legally disarm a carrier. Lefturd activists will seek to create confrontations. If you are going to carry on campus, consider a retention holster and concealing well. Also consider carrying a secondary weapon like pepper spray and a flick knife to protect your weapon against scum attacks. Lefturd lives don’t matter, but the uproar from ridding the world of one is not worth it.
” There’s a nineteen-year-old behind you with deficient impulse control.”
Perhaps he is a also a Biology major and Darwin’s Theory of Natural Selection may apply?
Does not really matter. If you are alone with Impulse-Deficient Bob in an elevator when the doors close, and when they open again, he’s on the floor in a pool of blood, it does not matter just how innocent you are or how he attacked you, the campus Leftists will make your life a living hell in order to demonize the evil Gun.
Far, far better to carry concealed. Less temptation for suicidal idiots and a far more satisfactory result to the typical assault with intent to take your stuff.
“Compelling professors at a public university to allow, without any limitation or restriction, students to carry concealed guns in their classrooms chills their First Amendment rights to academic freedom,” the professors argue…
Wow, I guess they hire morons as professors at UT, huh?
“Without any limitation or restriction?” What a load of shit. Do they not know what is involved with the CHL permit process, or are they just lying collectivist pukes?