Texas Insider

Fearmongering from Dems will prevent this bill from going anywhere.

FACT: campuses that allow concealed carry have no increases in gun violence or gun accidents.

SPIN: students will be less safe

CHL owners have a better records than Peace Officers according to research that I don’t have a link to but was told about.

Interesting if true.

The Texas legislature is not any different from the Washington DC bunch – issues of importance to the citizens get tabled so they can discuss junk issues and go home. This country is on the wrong road and so is this state. I am a native Texan and have never been more ashamed of the ignorance of this legislature. I have called on several bills and there is not one person down there with the you know whats to take care of business for the people so it will continue to be same sh–, different day and they wonder why people don’t particpate more – I get tired of being ignored!!!

Does anyone remember UT in the summer of ‘66?? Jeez! What is this world coming to?? This is an outrage! All votes should be highly publicized…I’m on board! Let’s get these rednecks out of Congress.

@Allison, UT in ‘66 is irrelevant, considering that there were no SWAT teams, and that rifles were used by civilians–not handguns. This legislation is about handguns.

@Bank, Considering that most states with CHLs don’t report such things–and that the CDC is no longer allowed to collect data on gun injuries or deaths–where do you get the data behind that so-called fact?

@Luke, I hear this claim repeated all the time. It certainly would be interesting if true, but I’ve never seen a citation.

@Lib, I think you’re very wrong. Controversial bills make a lot of people unhappy. The legislature has other things to work on–like making sure DPS doesn’t cease to exist–and so they try to spend what limited time they have focusing on those important and non-controversial things. If you want CHL on campus, make it non-controversial.

This entire issue is predicated on two assumptions: that people need to defend themselves on college campuses, and that guns on campus could stop a school shooting.

First of all, there’s very little aggravated assault or homicide, only simple assault. Want to add a gun to a fistfight? Really? Sure, you’ll cite sexual assault, but most of that is by an acquaintance. Explain to me–in detaill–how a gun could be used to defend against sexual assault, when most sexual assaults are by acquaintances or people trusted by the victim. 32% of the time, guns are used against the victim, and only by the victim less than 3% of the time–that’s OFF campus, where guns are allowed.

Secondly, SCCC admits few people would have CHLs. What’s to say they’d be in the right place? What’s to say they wouldn’t just be shot before anyone realized what’s going on? What’s to say they can actually do something about the shooter when fight-or-flight kicks in? And if no civ is there to save the day, so to speak, the cops now have to treat everyone as if they’re armed. An armed victim might be the shooter. EMTs can’t enter, more people bleed to death.

This legislation is absurd. Thank goodness more members of the legislature are realizing that.

JOHN,

I THINK YOU ARE WRONG!

WHY CAN’T THE LEGISLATURE PUT IN A BIT OF OVERTIME??

THE GUNS ARE ESSENTIA!!!! WE PREFER TO EXPLAIN WHY WE USED THE GUNS TO DEFEND OURSELVES…….

MORE GUNS IN THE HANDS OF THE GOOD GUYS IN MORE PLACES WILL MAKE IT POSSIBLE FOR LAE ENFORCEMENT TO GET THE JOB DONE EASIER & MORE EFFECTIVELY.

@John, SCCC admits these CHL holders are not vigilantes. SCCC does not want concealed carry on campus so students can patrol the classroom, SCCC wants concealed carry on campus so students who are concerned about their safety, and pass all background checks and training, can carry to defend themselves, in the event of an attack.

Putting a gun in the hands of a twenty-one year-old with training is one thing. The CHL test does not guarantee training, however. Many people with CHLs are responsible, but one person with a gun who *thinks* he’s responsible is many times more dangerous than one person without a gun. If crime were higher on campus, there might be justification for taking that risk–but there’s virtually none.

As a martial arts instructor, I refuse to believe that a ten hour course is sufficient to permit deadly force in a safe place. I give that kind of power to my students only after they’ve shown the discipline and responsibility, not based on how well they can hit a target.

If you want protection, hire more police. They put their lives on the line for our safety.

Finally, given that mental health information isn’t reported to the background check system in Texas, how are we supposed to trust it?

Look, one more thing. If I could have it my way, I’d take away all the rules about firearm ownership. I think if the law wasn’t telling people what to do, they’d be more inclined to listen to their consciences. But making rules that say you can take a gun on a college campus, that sends a message that it’s responsible to do so. For many people, no problem; but for some–and some is all it takes–big problem.

Let’s try it for a year. If the gun murder rate goes up on campuses, then repeal it. There. Proof is in the pudding.

CHL has an excellent track record. 21 year olds are typically Seniors. Not all seniors are going to carry. However it would be a bit comforting knowing that a professor could stop something like the Virginia Tech incident. I spoke with several students at Texas Tech after the VT incident and many were in shock about how similar their campus senario is to VT. ANd a NOTE on History… Go back and look at the old film of the UT shooting. If it were not for the GUN TOTING rednecks in Austin, Charles Whitman would have taken out more people. Those Gun Toting Cowboys helped keep him pinned after thay realized what was going on up there. By the way, Whitman was an Eagle scout also. Lunacy can come in all forms. I prefer to be ready for it.

At Columbine and Virginia Tech, our brave men in blue (or black) cowered behind their cars and trees and set up a perimeter until the shooting stopped. Then, at Columbine, two different SWAT teams went in and got into a shootout with each other, and probably killed one or two students. Also, the moronic cops refused to let the students evacuate a teacher who slowly bled to death. Police have demonstrated that they lack the guts and brains to defend students in the event of a mass shooting, so let CHL holders give it a try – they absolutely can’t do a worse job. To be fair, in both cases the Feds told the cops not to go in. This led to the passage each time of more gun control legislation. But, if the students are armed, the Feds won’t be able to sacrifice them next time on the altar of gun control.

@ John Woods… I liken your rational to those who would bring a knife to a gun fight. Data reveals that most, in excess of 90% of altercations requiring deadly force take place at a distance of 10 to 15 yards. The only thing I have that can move that distance in sufficient time to neutralize a threat at that distance is the handgun in my pocket. I pray that I never have to use it. The long and short of it is that I’m too young to die and too old to take an a$$ whipping and that last time I checked, karate and judo can’t stop a bullet.

Denying people the right to protect themselves will open campuses up to law suits out the whazoo if an event ever occurs.

Text sent to UT students who are signed up for text alerts this morning at 7:24 am.

“UT Alert Robbery at knifepoint 5-19 3.45am on ICD by Painter Hall. Suspect male early 30s 5′10″ thin build dark skin tone short brown hair/facial hair”

At least John Woods thinks there is no crime on college campuses.

Last Sunday morning, a young woman was awoken by an intruder standing abover her in bed in her West Campus apartment. http://www.kvue.com/news/local/stories/051409kvue_West_Campus_attack-cb.2c79b07.html

Yea, students for a gun free zone so you can’t protect yourself. Why don’t you just hang a sign out there telling the criminals they are safe to attack you because you will not be carrying a gun.

Jeez, you guys are not very bright.

I agree completely with everything John Woods has said

Putting guns into schools is a reactive measure. I would rather have my legislators remain proactive with our problems by focusing on things that could prevent a school shooting from happening in the first place such as mental health laws and closing loopholes that allow less than worthy individuals to purchase firearms. Campus crime rates are already lower than they are outside of schools, so there is no need to bring guns into a sacred place that is already safe and potentially raise the possibility for crime.

@Russell, you’re wrong. The VT police entered as soon as they arrived on the scene.

@R Lee, not on college campuses. Fist fights don’t happen over 10 to 15 yards, and that’s all we have here.

@rcg, Uhh, that’s absurd. Right now universities are supposed to handle that risk by canceling classes if students are in danger. If they don’t, then they’re open to lawsuits. They’re not going to get sued for not allowing guns in classrooms, or one of the fifty-five victims’ families at VT would have already done that. Look up “sovereign immunity.”

@Katie, I never said crime. I said violent crime. A robbery at knife point involves no violence, only property. Would you really end someone’s life over a couple dollars? As for the other, it sounds like the girl’s scream made the guy run away pretty quickly. I’m not clear on how the situation would have been improved by a gun. Would it have been under her pillow? Perhaps in her underwear? Would she have shot the guy in the back as he ran away?

@Bryan, “Gun-free zones” as you call them…they work. Look at the uniform crime reports. Two murders on UT campus since 1980. That’s a rate of about 0-1/100,000. The rate in the surrounding city is about 30/100,000, and it’s actually still pretty low in West Campus. If gun free zones attract criminals, where are they all?

FACT: University students don’t want HB 1893 to pass.

SPIN: None! The legislature shouldn’t put our lives on the line while they sit behind the walls of the Capital Building in Austin with their security and metal detectors! If they want concealed carry on campus, they need to have it in their workplace as well!

Anna wrote, “Let’s try it for a year. If the gun murder rate goes up on campuses, then repeal it. There. Proof is in the pudding.”

How DARE you? If the gun murder rate goes up? That means someone actually has to die to test this stupid idea. Only two people have been murdered at UT since 1980, and you say, “Let’s see if the murder rate rises.” That just shows you have no concept of the value of human lives–only of your own skin, and even about that you seem confused.

You’re safe on a college campus. Handguns will not make you safer. They may increase the murder rate now or sometime in the future, but it will happen. They certainly won’t decrease it, because the probability of a CHL licensee encountering someone bent on doing harm (and being able to prevent it) is so incredibly low.

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Read the facts people. 11 Universities allow concealed carry on campus, EVERY ONE of them has seen no rise or a decrease in not only crime, but suicides. Also, at Stressed Out, if you think 9 rapes a day at college universities across the nation is “not broken”, you must be crazy. While YOU people might not see incidents everyday, there is proof that crimes do occur on college campuses. Also, my dad was shot at numerous years ago and had it not been for him conceal carrying his Glock, he would’ve been killed. Was it on a college campus? No, but it just as well could have been, and if not him, someone else WITHOUT a gun would be the one to suffer. I hope you people realize that the only ones with guns on campus are those who are carrying them illegally, and you cant defend yourself from them. Check out concealedcampus.com, read the information it has, and you might be surprised how inaccurate your claims are.

CHL on Campus is not about stopping mass shootings, it’s about an individual;s option to a personal safety device. You might be male, 23 years old, and 6 feet tall but I’m not. You might live on or close to campus and walk everywhere, I drive a long distance and late at night. I can’t even have my handgun in my vehicle without taking a chance on being expelled and my professors have that same problem, they could be fired. There are currently 314,000 CHLs in Texas, and one of them voted against the Campus bill (Sen. Van de Putte). You see she can carry in her car, she can carry on the Senate floor if she choses but we can’t. Is her personal safety of more value than mine?