Conservative Student Group at Southern Methodist U. Petitions for Concealed Carry on Campus
“Being a veteran and former Army Ranger, I have a heart for public safety and feel as though I can evaluate potential areas for problems to arise”
More right leaning student groups should be doing this at schools across the country.
The College Fix reports:
Southern Methodist U. club advocates for concealed carry on campus
A conservative student group at Southern Methodist University is petitioning for concealed carry rights on campus, expressing hope the institution’s new president will be amenable to the change.
Preston Patten, president of the Turning Point USA chapter at SMU, told The College Fix the gun rights campaign is focused on public safety.
“Being a veteran and former Army Ranger, I have a heart for public safety and feel as though I can evaluate potential areas for problems to arise,” he said via text. “One of these areas was the fact that SMU is a ‘weapons free zone.’”
Texas law allows students to carry handguns on public university campuses if they are at least 21 and have a concealed carry permit, but the law does not apply to private universities like Southern Methodist University, according to an article from the Texas Tribune.
Patten said the Turning Point chapter launched its concealed carry campaign in the fall, right before learning that the university’s former president was stepping down.
In November through an official declaration letter, the TPUSA chapter leaders made contact with the Office of the President for the first time since 2015, he said.
“Following this we received the news our current President will be stepping down… This put a pause on our initiative,” Patten told The Fix.
Now, the group is planning to make contact with the new president, Jay Hartzell, who started the position on Jan. 7.
Patten said he is “hopeful” that Hartzell will work with the Turning Point USA chapter.
“Given his past position was at the University of [Texas at Austin], a place that did allow campus carry … He is very familiar with the policy and how it can be implemented safely and efficiently on campus,” he told The Fix.
“We are currently in the process of drafting a new declaration letter in hopes of the new administration being open to working with us,” he said.
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Students for Concealed Carry on Campus is now 18 years old, and has over 36,000 members and over 350 established chapters on college campuses and universities.
There is nothing unique about establishments of adult education — especially the government-run ones — that demands they be operated as rights-free zones. In fact, doing so creates a deliberate message of extended infantilization that is frankly deleterious.
doing so creates a deliberate message of extended infantilization
You see that as a bug. They see it as a feature.
I hope they’re successful. Breaking the logjam on academic hoplophobia is a key to returning us to a vibrant and strong culture.