It has been one year since state representatives allowed concealed carry of handguns on college campuses. Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 11 that allows students or any university affiliate to carry guns if they are licensed to carry. This bill caused controversy among university officials and communities which took place last August in 2016 for Texas universities.
With 307 mass shootings alone this year according to Gun Violence Archive and more than 13% from school shootings, the license to carry requirements need an update. The most recent mass shooting comes from San Antonio, Texas at a small town church that resulted in 26 killed and 26 injured. We see our elected president, #45 ruled this shooting as a mental health and not a gun control issue. CNN cited Trump saying “this isn’t a guns situation; this is a mental health problem at the highest level. It’s a very, very sad event.” When will the government realize the gun laws need to change or these mass shootings will continue?
One local gun shop owner, Barry Laws, in Crestwood, Kentucky offers discounts and gun knowledge to local college students near the University of Louisville. In offering gun classes, Mr. Laws goal is “to make sure that, if they’re going to do that, they know the laws and they know the correct ways to do things.” We want students who are away from their parents and the faculty to feel safe when they are on campus. Maybe having these gun classes will make a student feel more knowledgeable about gun safety. Usually when you are scared of something, in order to conquer that fear you must understand what and why you are fearful in the first place.
Some professors at University of Texasdid not feel safe and sued the university for “forcing colleges to impose dangerously-experimental gun policies.” While some students at historically black colleges and universities (HBCU) are fearful of more than the license to carry because the color of their skin, cops will stop a Black male regardless if he is licensed carry or not. How do we make sure everyone is being treated equal when race is involved? One Texas Southern University student, Laura Jones painted vividly “If one of the few white students on campus “pulled a gun in a class,” and one of the many black students took out their gun to defend the classroom, “when the cops show up, they’re gonna think it’s the black guy.”
So should universities offer handgun classes on campus? Or at least handgun safety classes?
Originally blogged on Campus Lately
I AM AP ROSE 