According to Sen. Glenn Hegar, R-Katy, colleges and
universities currently prohibit pistols from the campus, including in the
parking lots. His measure Senate Bill 1907 would allow students with their
concealed-handgun permits to have their pistols in their vehicles in the campus
parking lots. Students without this permit are still not allowed to have anything
on campus. For students to get this permit, they have to be over the age of 21
and pass the state licensing requirements. There is already a law that allow
the employees of universities with concealed handgun licenses to leave their
pistols in their cars, which was enacted two years ago.
Hegar filed the bill Monday, and got an almost unanimous
Senate vote to do so after the filing deadline was passed. The only opposing
vote was Sen. Jose Rodriguez, D-El Paso, because he believes guns are “in a
parking lot this year, and in buildings next time.” The tragedies that have
happened over the past few months have some people opposing this bill, thinking
it’s too soon. Committee Chairman John Whitmire, D-Houston, isn’t for campus
carry, but voted on this bill since it’s only a “carry-your-gun-on-campus-and-store-it-in-your-car-while-you-go-to-class-bill.”
I am for this bill because I don’t see any danger or
anything wrong in having students that are licensed to keep their gun in their
vehicles. The students are already allowed to carry their guns where they go
off campus, so why shouldn’t they be able to just leave them in a car? This being passed would keep students that
need to leave their guns in their vehicles out of trouble and avoid breaking
the current rules. I’m already for guns being allowed on campus for those with
concealed handgun licenses, so I don’t see a problem with this issue either.
3 comments:
Reading over Tamera’s post the “Senate Bill 1907,” I would have to completely agree with her. Along with agreeing with her position, I also think she did a really nice job of structuring her post. Tamera gave a little background on what’s currently required for someone to get their concealed handgun license, gave a general description of the bill, showed what the Legislatures position was, and then posted her own opinion. Her information was sweet and to the point. She didn’t add a whole lot of fluff and the post kept my attention.
When reading her post, I thought it was interesting that the Legislature thought we should wait on passing gun legislation in wake of the Sandy Hook shooting. If anything, this is a perfect example of why we need to put a bill like this into effect. People that have earned the right, and have met the requirements to carry, should be allowed to carry a weapon where ever they please. They are not the ones committing the crimes; they’ll be the ones who will stop things like the Sandy Hook shootings from happening. Trying to rid the world of guns isn’t going to fix anything. Legislation only works on law abiding citizens, not criminals, they don’t follow laws, hence the title “criminal.” This only removes weapons from the people trying to defend themselves, leaving them helpless and vulnerable to attacks. It’s like the war on drugs, there’s never going to be an end to it.
Tamera you wrote an excellent blog; you informed readers very well about the bill, gave insights on what the senate is doing about the Senate Bill 1907, and you also gave your opinion. In my view I disagree with Tamara’s opinion on the Senate Bill 1907 because I believe there is no need for students to carry guns on campus; I believe that the professor’s and faculty members should be the ones allowed to have guns on campus. With all these shootings occurring school are at high risk; if this bill is passed it is going to put schools at greater danger. I am not against guns nor I am for them; I do believe guns are necessary for our own protection. I think we all have the right to exercise the 2nd amendment if we ever find ourselves in threatening situations.
Who knows maybe this bill will help college campuses be safer, but from the things that I have seen now shows otherwise. One of the reasons why I oppose this bill is because I believe that there are some students that are not mature enough to carry a gun; anyone can take the class, study, and pass the state license exam. How do we know that person is not going to use the gun for harm at school? I don’t think students are mature enough because of what I experienced at work and at school; two young college students I say about 20-22 year olds got into a heated argument and one of them threatened to take his gun out and shoot him, another incident was at school. I attend Austin Community College and I am also a student at Texas State University; Texas State police sent out an email to everyone the other day about an incident that occurred involving a gun on campus. Evidently a male around his early 20’s pointed an AK-47 and pulled trigger but the gun did not fire, thank goodness. This just shows that there are some students that are not capable of having gun, even if they have a permit.
How will this make other students feel knowing that there classmate has a gun in their car? I don’t know about you but knowing that a classmate has a gun doesn’t make me feel safe.
I think there is definitely a lot of thinking that needs to be done with regards to the Senate Bill 1907 or any gun related law, because it’s our safety that is being put on the edge.
This isn't my blog 8 topic but I just wanted to write that I agree completely that concealed weapon holders should be allowed to carry on campus. As a concealed weapon holder myself and Iraq Combat Veteran (USMC)I believe that if there ever was a shooting on campus that I would be able to make a difference.
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