Stop! Or My Classmate Will Shoot!

Call me crazy, but the idea of sitting next to my peers in a classroom at ACC, and knowing that they may be carrying a firearm makes me a little nervous. In fact, it makes me reconsider my decision to return to college after a 6 year hiatus. With the proposed bill in the Texas Legislature, this idea could soon be reality. House Representatives Simpson, Driver, Huberty, Taylor and Gooden have all proposed legislation to the Committee of Homeland Defense & Public Safety for review. All of the bills include provisions to allow students and faculty who have Concealed Handgun Licenses (C.H.L’s) to carry their weapons onto university and college campuses in the state of Texas. I find it strikingly bizarre that someone who has taken a 10 hour class, for under $100 could possibly have the option to carry a weapon into the classroom where 35-300+ students are trying to learn. How am I supposed to concentrate during an exam knowing that the guy sitting next to me may or may not have a Glock or Baretta in is backpack?!

The Representatives and Senators that are proponents of this type of legislation claim that in the event of a school shooting, students would be able to protect themselves from an assailant. I can only imagine the disaster looming on the day a deranged person comes onto campus, starts shooting, and the student body begins firing back. This sounds like a bad case of “friendly fire” just waiting to happen. Also, in my opinion, this type of law would make it unbelievably easier for aforementioned deranged person to get their weapon onto school grounds. This is a very unsettling thought. As things are now, if someone in class opened their backpack to pull out a book and a gun dropped out, it would get reported. I will drop out of school, without second thought, the day this happens and no one says anything.

I say this legislation should be dumped, and we should leave the gun carrying to the campus police, not put it into the student body’s hands.

Sources:
http://www.txconcealedhandgunclass.com/general-information

http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/tlodocs/82R/schedules/html/C4202011031614001.HTM

http://www.texastribune.org/texas-issues/campus-carry/lawmakers-get-an-earful-about-campus-carry/