Campus Carry in Texas

by Sandy Keathley

It is well-known that changes to gun laws in Texas take 2-3 sessions to accomplish. First a new law has to get enough support, which takes the first session. Then it has to get out of committee, and finally get to a vote on the floor. That usually takes at least one more session, often two. Since the Texas Legislature only meets every other year, that means it takes 4-6 years to effect meaningful changes.

In the last few months, there has been a lot of discussion in the gun rights community about "Open Carry", a change that would allow people (probably limited to CHL holders) to carry handguns in a visible holster with at least one point of retention. At least 33 other states allow this now, and it is a growing trend.

In reality, that will probably not be the next big change in Texas law (although it could be). There is another change in line ahead of that: Campus Carry. In the last session, it got all the way through committee, late, but ran out of time in the session. This law would force all public (and perhaps private) colleges in Texas to allow CHL holders to carry on campus.

What? You say. Allow college students, boiling with hormones, to carry guns? Are you nuts?

Well, remember that you still have to be 21 to get a CHL, and most college students are not yet 21. The ones that are include a high percentage of veterans, returning from Afghanistan and Iraq. Remember Virginia Tech? A crazy roamed the campus for more than an hour, shooting people at will. If you had a daughter there, would you want there to be an armed ex-Army Ranger in her classroom, or someone carrying a chess set? Hmmm?

There are a lot of campus shootings; you only hear about the big ones. Plus, almost every college campus has had incidents of forcible rape. Some of those women are 21, walking across campus late at night. There was an incident in Colorado where a young lady, a CHL holder, was attacked, beaten, and raped. She could not carry on campus, and wasn't. When she testified before a Congressional committee, Senator Feinstein, as usual, was arrogantly dismissive of the value of a gun in that case.  Maybe the girl should have presented her attacker with a copy of the law against rape.

When Texas passed the Concealed Carry Law in 1996, opponents said there would be "gunfights in theaters over spilled soda" and "blood in the streets". None of that happened. Time and again, it has been proved that people who choose to carry a gun legally are the most law-abiding segment of society. Our older college students will prove it once again.

If you agree, please contact your state representative, and express support for this law.