The Gun Blogs

Concealed handgun licensees here in the Great State of Texas have been fighting for the right to carry on campus for...quite some time now. As of right now, our best hope is that Governor Perry will attempt to change things during our 2009 legislative session. This is one of the rare times in which I think that meeting every other year is a very bad thing. We're trying to be patient, but...it's getting harder.

With the recent shooting on a college campus in Tyler, Texas, we have no choice but to acknowledge that this type of thing can happen anywhere. Even here in Texas, where more than a quarter million of us are legally licensed to carry our concealed handguns in many public places (except, of course, school).

And then, the University of Texas at Arlington reported that there was an armed robbery on campus. There was also an incident involving a pellet gun.

So: we need concealed carry at Texas schools. Right now, only the criminals have weapons at school. By definition, criminals break laws. You can post all the "No Gun" signs you want, and you can pass all the "No guns at school" laws you want. The criminals are going to ignore all of this. Those of us who follow laws will obey...and by doing so, put ourselves at risk.

This ticks me off because I'm a UT-Arlington student. (I'm taking off this semester, but I'm returning in August.) I have to walk, by myself, across several parking lots. The campus is wide open to anybody who wishes to show up. Cooper Street, which basically runs right down the middle of the school, is a large and public road open to anybody who'd like to drive down it.

And though many of the people who live in the numerous houses near the campus are wonderful, law-abiding citizens...some of them are not. Not every person in the surrounding neighborhood is a good guy or gal. The criminals who live right off campus have very easy, free access to the unarmed students who are in the parking lots and on the streets.

There aren't enough campus police officers to personally escort every student all over the campus. Until or unless we each have armed escorts, we're responsible for protecting ourselves. But right now, legislation and school policies make this difficult. Very difficult.

Because, quite frankly, I have no delusion about what would happen if I were confronted by a criminal armed with a handgun. I have...pepper spray and a folding knife. Oh, yes, those are highly effective against handgun-wielding purse snatchers, rapists, school shooters and other, miscellaneous thugs.

This is not fair. I haven't done anything wrong, but the law puts me at a distinct disadvantage re: my own protection. The State of Texas licensed me to carry a loaded .45 at church, in Wal-Mart, and at the hobby shop. But I cannot carry that same gun to classes. I'm the same law-abiding citizen no matter where I go, but for some reason, I am not worthy of self protection when I'm attempting to better myself through higher education.

The Brady Campaign's "Drop out of school" solution would be a fine idea if it weren't for the fact that I have just as much right to attend college as an anti-gunner's kid does. I earned my seat at UT-Arlington. Wishing to defend and protect myself while I'm occupying that seat does not make me any less worthy of what I worked to earn.

Besides: the anti-gunners still have the right to NOT carry guns. They have a choice. I do not.

The sooner we get campus carry, the happier I'll be.