Content about Gun politics
I recently opened my email to discover that UT has been declared a tobacco-free campus. While this finger-waving policy will and should generate some controversy, I was most struck by the following statement enclosed in the message: “The institution is enthusiastic about taking another step toward creating the healthiest environment possible for those who work, study and visit here.” Why then does the leadership of this University refuse to allow students to fully exercise their right to self-defense?
After a series of tumultuous events and heated debates, UT students can rest assured that measures to allow students to carry guns on campus will not be permitted. Last week, Sam Cummings, a conservative federal judge in Lubbock, Texas, dismissed the National Rifle Association’s challenge to a Texas law prohibiting teenagers and adults ages 18 to 20 from carrying concealed weapons in the case Jennings v. McCraw.
Fewer women than men in the U.S. hold concealed handgun licenses and women who do carry them do so for self-defense and a need to feel empowered, according to a study by sociology graduate student Angela Stroud.
Stroud said her study, which involved 15 interviews with women who hold concealed handgun licenses, found that women seek the license to feel as powerful as men in a culture where women are taught to feel vulnerable.
Growing up in South Texas, my friends and I would skip school to cross over to Mexico. We would drink cheap beer and eat tacos on the street, check out the shops and generally cause a ruckus. It was only a few years ago, but then the streets were always filled with tourists, cars and people trying to sell trinkets.
AUSTIN, Texas — Republicans in the Texas Senate on Monday approved allowing concealed handgun license holders to carry weapons into public college buildings and classrooms, moving forward on a measure that had stalled until supporters tacked it on to a universities spending bill.
Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, had been unable to muster the votes he needed under Senate rules to pass the issue as its own bill after the measure met stiff resistance from higher education officials, notably from within the University of Texas system.
Concealed carry on campus may have hit another dead end after Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, pulled down her higher education bill Tuesday.
Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, had attempted to add his controversial guns on campus legislation as an amendment to Zaffirini’s bill, which would have reduced reporting requirements for universities and in turn lowered tuition rates.
The proposed concealed carry bills state that concealed handgun license holders will be able to carry their guns onto campus.
On Wednesday night, the TIP program hosted a panel in the Union Theatre about the possible legislation that will force public colleges and universities in Texas to allow licensed individuals to bring their concealed handguns on campuses.
As the Texas House and Senate consider legislation that would legalize concealed carry of handguns on campus by licensed individuals, four members of the UT community met Wednesday to debate the issue in the Texas Union Theatre.
Senators anticipated voting on the concealed carry on campus bill Monday, but it stalled on the floor for the second time in a week.
The controversial bill would allow concealed handgun license holders to carry guns on college campuses.
Supporters have said the bill would allow personal protection, while opponents are concerned it could lead to campus violence.
Jim Bryce held back tears as he recounted memories of 45 years ago, when he was supposed to meet a friend for lunch at the Texas Union, but saw a shooter inside the UT Tower on the news.
Bryce and classmate Sandra Wilson were students at UT in 1966, when Charles Whitman, a student and former Marine, opened fire atop the Tower, killing 14 people and wounding 31.
Both testified before the Senate Criminal Justice Committee about the concealed carry on campus bill Tuesday along with current students, including members of student lobbying group Invest in Texas.
The state Senate Committee on Criminal Justice on Tuesday heard testimony from supporters and opponents of SB 354, a bill which would allow concealed handgun license holders to carry concealed handguns inside buildings of Texas public universities, including UT.
While students were off during spring break, Texas lawmakers tackled legislation including concealed carry on campus and the Rainy Day Fund.
The Rainy Day Fund is an emergency pot of excess revenue totaling $9.4 billion that lawmakers can use to balance the budget. State legislators, including House Appropriations Committee chair Rep. Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie, said the state should tap into the fund, but Gov. Rick Perry did not want to use any of the excess revenue.
Gun rights activists aiming to arm and protect law-abiding citizens protested Saturday against a city commission’s gun buyback program.
As state legislators take up the issue of concealed carry on campus this session, 66 people are one step closer to receiving their concealed handgun licenses.
Michael Cargill, UT Students for Concealed Carry on Campus and a Department of Public Safety certified instructor, hosted a concealed handgun licensing course for the second consecutive year, said the group’s vice president Kory Zipperer.
UT System Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa sent a letter to Gov. Rick Perry encouraging him to prevent the Texas Legislature from allowing guns on college campuses.
The letter, which Cigarroa sent Thursday, addressed the System’s three main areas of concern about the bill that would allow registered concealed carry permit holders to bring guns onto college campuses. He said in the letter the bill could be detrimental to University mental health, law enforcement and laboratory safety.
Two survivors of the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting want Texas lawmakers to vote against bills that would allow students to carry concealed handguns on campus, they said at a press conference Thursday.
Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, Sen. Brian Birdwell, R-Granbury, and Sen. John Carona, R-Dallas, filed a bill that could allow licensed individuals to carry concealed handguns on college campuses. Rep. David Simpson, R-Longview, filed a similar bill in the House.
The Faculty Council unanimously passed its second resolution in two years affirming the current ban on concealed firearm carry on campus at a Monday meeting.
Higher education campuses in Texas have been designated gun-free zones for 15 years, but lawmakers will try again to change that this legislative session.
Since the start of the 82nd Texas Legislature last month, Rep. Joe Driver, R-Garland, Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, and Rep. David Simpson, R-Longview, have each filed bills to allow carrying licensed concealed handguns on campus.
UT Division of Housing and Food Services follows institutional rules that ban all weapons and facsimiles on all areas of campus, subject to a third-degree felony.
In its last meeting of the semester, the Student Government assembly passed a resolution in support of in-state tuition for undocumented Texas residents — reflecting agreement with an existing law that allows undocumented immigrant students, and those in the U.S. under other types of visas who attend Texas high schools, to gain in-state tuition at Texas public universities.
Students at Texas State University may become the first in the state to approve of legislative efforts to reverse Texas’ ban on concealed carry on state campuses pending approval from the student body president.
The Associated Student Government’s 24-10 vote supports a proposed bill by state Rep. David Simpson, R-Longview, that would allow licensed owners to carry concealed handguns while on any public or private college campus in the state. To obtain a state-issued handgun license, the licensee must undergo background checks, training and testing.
Concealed carry of handguns on college campuses has been a divisive issue in the Texas Legislature since 2007, and elected officials will go another round on the issue once the new session starts in January.
State Rep. David Simpson, R-Longview, filed a bill on Monday that would allow those who possess a concealed handgun license to carry a handgun on university campuses. To obtain a concealed handgun license, applicants must be of sound mind, have no criminal record, be at least 21 years of age and take a course on proper concealed carry procedure.
Texas ranks fourth among all U.S. states in the number of guns sold that are eventually used in crimes.
One of every 50 guns recovered by Texas law enforcement agencies during criminal investigations in 2009 can be traced to Austin. The city ranked ninth among all municipalities in Texas for guns used in crimes, following Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio, among other cities, according to statistics from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
