On Wednesday, September 30th, 2015, the Austin American Statesman published an article about opposing guns on campus at University of Texas at Austin.
A strong majority of speakers at the University of Texas at Austin’s first campus carry forum on Wednesday night voiced concern about the contentious law that will allow licensed Texans to carry concealed handguns in campus buildings.
University of Texas at Austin professors said “Twelve Texas legislators sponsored this law supposedly to make us safer; but most recent studies say that more guns make us less safe. No mass murder or campus shooting has ever been stopped by an armed student or professor. Researchers at Texas A&M University have shown that concealed handgun licenses have had no impact on crime rates.” Also, the chancellor of the UT System, former Navy Seal Admiral William McRaven, argued “the presence of handguns will lead to an increase in both accidental shootings and self-inflicted wounds.”
While the gun lobby and those legislators who passed SB 11 are concerned about the Second Amendment, the professors, staff, and students at UT Austin are fighting to protect their First Amendment right to freedom of speech. Right now, 150 UT Austin professors have signed a petition saying they will refuse to allow guns in their classrooms, and a petition from UT Students Opposing Campus Carry has more than 5,000 signatures.
The authors of this article are the professors of the University of Texas at Austin, and they clearly encourage their students to sign the petition and join them to protest campus carry and the legislators who voted for it. The authors are co-chairs of Gun Free UT, and they have been dealing with this issue by participating many public discussions, so I think their argument is pretty convincing.
In Addition, guns disrupt the academic atmosphere of a university. Sitting in a class, knowing that fellow students might be armed alters the environment. For professors and teaching assistants, lecturing in front of a hall of hundreds of students knowing that some are potentially armed encroaches upon the sanctity of the classroom.
I think college students should not have to deal with guns on campus, and professors should not have to worry about students bringing guns to class.
A strong majority of speakers at the University of Texas at Austin’s first campus carry forum on Wednesday night voiced concern about the contentious law that will allow licensed Texans to carry concealed handguns in campus buildings.
University of Texas at Austin professors said “Twelve Texas legislators sponsored this law supposedly to make us safer; but most recent studies say that more guns make us less safe. No mass murder or campus shooting has ever been stopped by an armed student or professor. Researchers at Texas A&M University have shown that concealed handgun licenses have had no impact on crime rates.” Also, the chancellor of the UT System, former Navy Seal Admiral William McRaven, argued “the presence of handguns will lead to an increase in both accidental shootings and self-inflicted wounds.”
While the gun lobby and those legislators who passed SB 11 are concerned about the Second Amendment, the professors, staff, and students at UT Austin are fighting to protect their First Amendment right to freedom of speech. Right now, 150 UT Austin professors have signed a petition saying they will refuse to allow guns in their classrooms, and a petition from UT Students Opposing Campus Carry has more than 5,000 signatures.
The authors of this article are the professors of the University of Texas at Austin, and they clearly encourage their students to sign the petition and join them to protest campus carry and the legislators who voted for it. The authors are co-chairs of Gun Free UT, and they have been dealing with this issue by participating many public discussions, so I think their argument is pretty convincing.
In Addition, guns disrupt the academic atmosphere of a university. Sitting in a class, knowing that fellow students might be armed alters the environment. For professors and teaching assistants, lecturing in front of a hall of hundreds of students knowing that some are potentially armed encroaches upon the sanctity of the classroom.
I think college students should not have to deal with guns on campus, and professors should not have to worry about students bringing guns to class.
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