Here the teachers have panic buttons on the desk and metal detectors and they still get through. It is the students though and not the teachers.
It is all wrong. Guns are bad!
rated with hugs

soon, it'll be illegal NOT to carry a gun... sheesh

I'm so glad school will be finished for me soon!

Only in Texas! I wouldn't send my child to a school where concealed weapons are allowed. It increases the odds of another shooting. Why can't people see this?

You know what would make every drunken frat party SOOO much more fun? Guns. Am I right!? (I would NOT be sending my child to a campus where guns were allowed -- no, encouraged. Those guns are far far far more likely to be used by sloshed and overly-emotional young people to commit suicide or to terrorize an ex or to threaten a teacher.

"Guns are bad!"
My guns are inanimate and are neither good or bad.
It is the PEOPLE, read~~EVIL IDIOTS who have intentions to do damage with whatever is at hand.
Am I a "bad" person because I own guns?

Oh, I'm such a hard ass.

I forgot to add that I see this as totaly wrong headed in texass.

After the recent elections the Texas legislature gained a supermajority for the Republicans in the state houses. In spite of the protests to get government out of the lives of the citizenry, we're going to see all sorts of shenanigans of intrusiveness. In addition to the gun legislation for campuses, in which polls of students reveal a majority feel unease or distress that their peers would be carrying concealed weapons, the Republican led state government now has an abortion bill on the fast track. The abortion bill seeks to punish and impose guilt upon those seeking an abortion. Doctors feel it's an unwarranted intrusion of the state between the doctors and their female patients. Personally I don't think abortion should be considered as just another means of birth control, but it's a decision for the woman to make, and one that the Supreme Court has repeatedly upheld (though that may change--it's interesting that Republicans routinely decry "activist" judges while the SCOTUS has been shown to be just that).

Texas already has a 24 hour waiting period from the time a pregnant woman asks for an abortion to when it may legally occur. A state dictated list of alternatives is also mandated by the state to be presented to that woman. A Republican senator from Houston says that's not enough. Doctors must now show a sonogram to the patient within two hours of the abortion, and must describe features of the fetus' anatomy. The fetus' heartbeat must be made audible as well. The woman might object, but she has no recourse to stop what the senator describes as "empowering" the woman with information. Dan Patrick, the senator, has said that "the hand of God" has played a role in the legislation, and that if the woman objects to the imposed preliminary procedures than she can avert her eyes and just "tune it out."

The proposal is not medically necessary--which is proved by the provision that exempts rape and incest victims, it is a means of scolding and punishing women who are already in the throes of an agonizing experience.

This is the face of the Republican party in Texas.

Sorry for going off on a tangent, but I think it's all part and parcel of what's going on here in this state. Texas is near the bottom of all measurable indexes with regard to quality of life—in health care and education to name just two areas—with a "screw you federal government" attitude that makes the plight of those most in need much worse than what those in other states experience.

It's not going to either cause a tragedy. Florida's experience with CCW (carry concealed weapons) permit holders shows that CCW holders are less likely to commit violent gun crimes than are police officers who almost nobody thinks should be unarmed.

This bill will not make much of a difference in regards to the actual number of firearms on Texas campuses. After having read HB 1167 and some of the press releases yesterday (slow day at the office due to Presidents Day), I discovered that there are a few salient facts about the proposed law and the present law that most press reports are missing- 1) You have to have a Concealed Handgun License to carry a firearm on campus (see item 2) under the new law. They don't just hand those CHLs out like candy. It takes a lot of time and money to get one of those. Oh yeah, you have to be 21 to apply as was pointed out in this post. That would preclude about half of college students. 2) It is already legal to carry a concealed firearm on a Texas campus if you hold a CHL. The new law would extend the CHL parameters to the buildings as well, where it is not currently legal to a concealed weapon. 3) Only 2% of Texans have a CHL. Extrapolating the numbers under item three, I figure there might be 5,000 permits (worst case scenario) permits held by college students. The number is more likely far below that. I went into more detail on the above 3 items in my OS blog yesterday. In regards to why Van Taylor is bringing this up when the state is some $27b in the hole, beats me. bbd makes a good point the attitude of the leg in this state. bbd- when are you going to run for gov? You've got my vote.

Thanks for this, Catherine. I wrote on a similar bill in AZ yesterday...some fellow Americans are losding their minds. r.

This is a very interesting issue. I've been thinking about and discussing it with my boyfriend for the last few days. The French are a very gun-controlled nation - almost no one is legally allowed to own a gun except hunters and law enforcement officials. But my boyfriend is in agreement with this idea - he thinks it would allow students and faculty to protect themselves, and would discourage rampages. I worry - it's hard to think of trusting just about anyone with a firearm. Not to mention stupid accidents that might happen if a student is high, drunk, or just over-tired. On the other hand, I see his point. The information you give here, that getting a gun would become a rite of passage that would overtake the more academic ones, is something I hadn't thought of. More to discuss tonight! :-)

I believe everybody should carry a gun, just no bullets. Make for some fun time, BANG BANG!! YOU'RE DEAD!!

NO, I'M NOT, YOU MISSED!!

:D

~Wanders off back to the thorn bushes for a nice nap~

There is an undercurrent of rage in the youth, it’s in my own sweet gentle girls. I can see my part but I have no idea where the rest of it came from. I hear the same thing from many gentle parents here on OS who come give me comfort.

I know I am like a broken record but I can’t shut up. There is something really wrong with our young people and I am afraid for them all. It’s sad when someone my age dies, it’s heart wrenching when a 20 year old, or 9 year old dies.

Every time one of them explodes we all ask why, at this point we need to help them stop blowing up physically, BEFORE we can understand why. Fix first, argue later, please.

What if one of these young people fails some stupid test and blows their own brains out in the bathroom over a test? What if two have an argument and start shooting each other?

Are they learning to fight listening to the adults as we fight? I don’t know, all I know is our youth are physically self destructing.

As a parent I knew I could never control my childrens feelings, my job was to control their actions until they learned to control their own actions (re-actions). This decades old habit has helped me not act on every fear or anger response I have in my head and heart today.

I have never been able to control my inner responses when I am afraid or hurt, over time I learned to control my actions. Are they not learning to control their actions (re-actions) in time and they act out physically because they hear us shouting?

Catherine, I am no longer able to problem solve or verbalize well, now my brain loops, you are very good at problem solving and verbalizing. Can you see what is happening here? the experts are still shouting at each other and I think the solution is not to arm people who can’t stop themselves yet. I wish I could say this better.

There seems to be a bottomless pit in this country for stupidity. I guess it's back to the wild west before too long. Everyone can wear the gun belt, or whatever you call those things like in the Westerns...and maybe those cross-wise things full of ammunition like some of the guys wore in the movie The Magnificent Seven. It's ludicrous. Where does it end. Walk around with surface-to-air rockets, just in case a plane is heading into your office building? R

I agree with Joe in that this bill won't have much of an immediate practical impact, most likely. However, it opens the door to the next bill, which might be a proposal to allow concealed carry with no onerous permit requirements. It's symbolic; those 5,000 people might not hurt anyone, but we are saying that, as a culture, we can only solve our problems or protect our young with deadly force. And I can't ever agree with that premise, no matter the small number of people who actually act on it, or how well-behaved they might be.

I also agree with Barry - we are at a sad pass here in the Lone Star State. And we are all paying the price - no matter our political affiliations - with poor education, social services etc. I'm tired of it. If only my neighbors could see what I see maybe they would stop voting against their interests. But I think it'll be a cold day you-know-where before that happens!

I think I would resign if this happened on my campus.

Bleue,

Obviously you didn't read about the law, but just had a knee jerk reaction to it. The law only allows those with concealed carry permits to carry guns on campus. That limits carry to those over 21, meaning, primarily seniors, those with previous life experience, graduate students and professors. The typical 18 yr old freshman is not going to legally be allowed to carry a gun on campus. Also, to be realistic, the type of person who is likely to "blow up" and shoot his professor over a test grade is not going to be deterred by a law against his having a gun. The no gun law on campus doesn't make things any safer, other than in the fevered imagination of gun control folks. I truly believe this law won't make a difference either way. It's not going to make things safer, nor will it make things less safe. That said, I would rather we err on the side of freedom than security. Allowing the same gun carry laws that apply in the rest of Texas on college campuses as well isn't going to create a negative atmosphere.

I taught sociology at a university in San Antonio for many years. On several occasions I asked students in my classes whether they would feel safer if everyone in the room were packing heat. This got an immediate and appreciative laugh. They saw the absurdity of the idea immediately. Who wouldn't?

I don't understand this love for the guns. You never know when an angry student who got a C will start shooting because he can: he got a gun. To be a student in Texas is a very risky business, but I found a solution: I got my masters degree in social work online without being afraid that someone will get angry and might shoot you.