Bman505
02-10-2009, 09:57 AM
Proposed laws allowing concealed guns on Texas campuses not such a bright idea
Feb. 9, 2009, 7:47PM
Share Print Email Del.icio.usDiggTechnoratiYahoo! BuzzIt only happens for five months or so every other year, but somehow it always seems longer. That’s when the Texas Legislature’s in session, and lawmakers go about their business of making laws.
The trouble is, they also go about their business of getting themselves elected for another term. Some of the bills they introduce seem crafted more to make a memorable campaign-season sound-bite than to pass effective laws.
Take the issue of allowing people over 21 to carry concealed weapons on college campuses. It’s been broached before, with no success, but is slated to come up again in this current session, with at least two bills in the works — one sponsored by Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, and the other by Rep. Joe Driver, R-Garland.
There seems to be little appetite, outside of the gun lobbies, for bringing concealed weapons onto college campuses. After the horrendous carnage on the campus of Virginia Tech in 2007, when 33 people died, campuses around the country agonized over the safety of their students. Seventeen states introduced measures to allow guns on campus. Voters turned them all down.
They were wise to do so. A college campus is no place for firearms. A student’s responsibility is to learn and to grow. It’s the campus administration and law enforcement who must take responsibility for their safety.
Last month, the Student Government of the University of Texas at Austin overwhelmingly passed a resolution against allowing concealed handguns on campus. Graduate student John Woods, who authored the resolution, was an undergraduate at Virginia Tech when the killings occurred there. As reported by the Daily Texan, he pointed out that campus shootings are rare and that the odds of legitimately armed students being present at the time are even slimmer.
Virginia Tech, which still prohibits concealed weapons except for authorized personnel, has beefed up its violence prevention policy, adding a threat assessment team to check out students and campus personnel who may present a threat to the university.
Other campuses should take similar measures to make their facilities as safe as possible.
At the federal and state level, authorities must redouble their efforts to see that regulations on the sale of firearms are enforced and that computer databases are updated and automated to ensure more complete background checks.
After the killings at Virginia Tech, the state’s Commission on Mental Health Law Reform found that because the gunman, Seung-Hui Cho, had been declared mentally ill in 2005, he should have been banned from buying a firearm.
Instead of trying to pass legislation that would increase the vulnerability of students and others on campus, Texas lawmakers should look at making the best use of available technology and other safeguards that will benefit all Texans, including students.
This story originated at
Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/6254921.html
Feb. 9, 2009, 7:47PM
Share Print Email Del.icio.usDiggTechnoratiYahoo! BuzzIt only happens for five months or so every other year, but somehow it always seems longer. That’s when the Texas Legislature’s in session, and lawmakers go about their business of making laws.
The trouble is, they also go about their business of getting themselves elected for another term. Some of the bills they introduce seem crafted more to make a memorable campaign-season sound-bite than to pass effective laws.
Take the issue of allowing people over 21 to carry concealed weapons on college campuses. It’s been broached before, with no success, but is slated to come up again in this current session, with at least two bills in the works — one sponsored by Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, and the other by Rep. Joe Driver, R-Garland.
There seems to be little appetite, outside of the gun lobbies, for bringing concealed weapons onto college campuses. After the horrendous carnage on the campus of Virginia Tech in 2007, when 33 people died, campuses around the country agonized over the safety of their students. Seventeen states introduced measures to allow guns on campus. Voters turned them all down.
They were wise to do so. A college campus is no place for firearms. A student’s responsibility is to learn and to grow. It’s the campus administration and law enforcement who must take responsibility for their safety.
Last month, the Student Government of the University of Texas at Austin overwhelmingly passed a resolution against allowing concealed handguns on campus. Graduate student John Woods, who authored the resolution, was an undergraduate at Virginia Tech when the killings occurred there. As reported by the Daily Texan, he pointed out that campus shootings are rare and that the odds of legitimately armed students being present at the time are even slimmer.
Virginia Tech, which still prohibits concealed weapons except for authorized personnel, has beefed up its violence prevention policy, adding a threat assessment team to check out students and campus personnel who may present a threat to the university.
Other campuses should take similar measures to make their facilities as safe as possible.
At the federal and state level, authorities must redouble their efforts to see that regulations on the sale of firearms are enforced and that computer databases are updated and automated to ensure more complete background checks.
After the killings at Virginia Tech, the state’s Commission on Mental Health Law Reform found that because the gunman, Seung-Hui Cho, had been declared mentally ill in 2005, he should have been banned from buying a firearm.
Instead of trying to pass legislation that would increase the vulnerability of students and others on campus, Texas lawmakers should look at making the best use of available technology and other safeguards that will benefit all Texans, including students.
This story originated at
Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/6254921.html