Concealed Carry on Campus

On Wednesday April 8, 2009, Texas House Bill 1893 made it passed committee by a vote of 5-3. This legislation is sponsored by State Representative Joe Driver (R-113), and would enable Concealed Handgun Licensees to protect themselves on college and university campuses. Voting FOR the bill were State Representatives Driver, Tommy Merritt (R-7), Stephen Frost (D-1), Phil King (R-61) and Tryon Lewis (R-81).
A majority of the committee members agreed that adult students, faculty and staff who are 21 or older, who have passed extensive background checks, have completed firearms training courses and have been issued a concealed handgun licenses by the Department of Public Safety, should be able to protect themselves in campus settings just like they are legally able to do almost anywhere else in Texas. They also felt that the right to personal protection should not be denied to a licensee just because he or she studies, works or lives on a college or university campus.

The committee substitute for HB 1893 contains language de-criminalizing the carrying of a handgun by a CHL on the campus of either a public or private institution of higher education. It also prevents public or private colleges and universities from adopting and enforcing administrative sanctions against faculty, employees and students who are CHLs that carry on campus -- except that the governing bodies of private institutions may adopt administrative rules and regulations affecting carrying by CHLs in buildings only (not parking lots or grounds) after consulting with faculty, staff and students.

HB 1893 now moves to the House Calendars Committee. This committee decides when, and IF, the bill will come to the floor for a vote by the full House of Representatives. I think this can get through this fairly quickly as seven of the twelve members on this committee are co-authors. I also believe that this bill can get through a house vote. Of the 121 members in the House, 77 of them are sponsors, authors, or co-authors of the bill.

This is a huge win for gun carriers. This is also a huge step in preventing horrible incidents like those at Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois. Many people do not believe that this is a good idea. But when the State of Texas says that at the age of 21 I can obtain a concealed handgun license, then I should be able to carry it where I spend most of my day. I can throw out some arguments here like “people kill people, not guns,” but you have heard them all and it becomes pointless. The fact of the matter is, we have the Constitutional right as citizens of the United States of America to carry a gun and protect ourselves. I will leave you with one argument that gun owners are not as dangerous as they have been made out to be.

Doctors vs. Guns U.S. Statistics:
Number of physicians in the US = 700,000
Accidental deaths caused by physicians per year =120,000
Accidental deaths per physician = 0.171 (U.S. Dept. of Health &Human Services)
Number of gun owners in the US = 80,000,000
Number of accidental gun deaths per year (all age groups) =1,500Accidental deaths per gun owner = 0.0000188 (U.S. Bureau ofAlcohol, Tobacco & Firearms)
Therefore, doctors are approximately 9,000 times more dangerousthan gun owners.

At the end of the day, the answer is not less guns. It is putting guns in the hands of responsible law abiding citizens.