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Bill would allow guns on college campuses
Published April 3, 2009
LAKE JACKSON — If House Bill 1893 is passed, Shane Little will be able to carry a gun onto Brazosport College’s campus next year.
He’s hoping to see that happen.
“As soon as I turn 21, I would love it,” the now 20-year-old Brazoria resident said.
A Texas resident must be 21 to receive a license to carry a concealed weapon. A person who has that permit would be able to carry a weapon on any college campus in the state if HB 1893, which is pending in a House committee, becomes law.
Little and others see the right to have a weapon on campus as a way to make them safer, and prevent carnage such as occurred in April 2007 at Virginia Tech, when a student roamed the campus with a pair of handguns.
Thirty-two people died in the massacre and many more were wounded, a toll Little believe could have been lessened.
“There were people in Virginia Tech that had their CHLs that were not allowed to carry them on the college campuses that could have brought the guy down,” Little said. “I am a supporter of this bill and I would carry it when I turn 21 and get my CHL.”
The Facts attempted to contact state Rep. Dennis Bonnen late Thursday after his Austin office closed and was unable to reach him. Both he and state Rep. Randy Weber, R-Pearland, have signed on as supporters of the bill, according to legislative records.
Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, sponsor of an identical Senate bill, said students, faculty and staff are “sitting ducks” if someone starts blasting.
“I have no desire to wake up one morning and read in the newspaper, or hear on the radio, or watch on television a news report that 32 Texas college students were gunned down like sitting ducks by some deranged gunman,” Wentworth told the Associated Press.
Seventy of the 150 House members have signed on in support of HB 1893; the Senate version has signatures of support from 12 of that chamber’s 31 members.
Some college administrators don’t agree with Wentworth’s “sitting ducks” analogy.
“We have trained campus police officers on campus that are trained in dealing with those situations,” Alvin Community College Information Officer Wendy Del Bello said. “I want the professionals to be in charge of those emergencies, and I think, especially with all the campus tragedies that have happened over the last few years since Columbine, our campus is very mindful of those situations, and we have training and they have plans to know what to do.”
Someone who applies for a permit to carry a concealed weapon has to be a resident of the state or be a U.S. citizen and be at least 21 years old, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety, which is the permit-issuing agency.
Permit applicants cannot have a Class A or B misdemeanor or a felony conviction on their record in the last five years; cannot suffer from a mental illness; and also must have satisfactorily completed a firearms safety training program.
Brazosport College officials are watching the bill carefully and hope, if it does pass, there will be a provision to allow colleges to decide individually whether to allow concealed weapons on campus, Dean of Community Relations John Ray said.
“This is not something we would want to vote on hastily,” Ray said. “There’s several parts to this that we would certainly need to look at. Security is always a concern on campus, and we have committees that look at this, and we are always looking at ways of improving safety and security on campus.”
Cally Glover, 19, said while she wouldn’t want to know if someone sitting next to her in class had a concealed weapon, she thinks it could be a good thing.
“If there’s a school shooting, they could protect themselves and others,” the Brazosport College freshman said.
Alvin Community College Police Chief Andy Tacquard said there are a few upsides to allowing permit holders to carry their concealed weapons on campus, but there also could be some devastating consequences.
“I have very mixed emotions about it,” Tacquard said, “simply because if we have an active shooter like they had at Virginia Tech and I have a team respond and two or three cops get there, and there’s another student confronting another student with a gun — how do we know who’s the bad guy? That’s really going to make it a very awkward situation.”
The positive side is that if campus or city police aren’t able to get to the area fast enough, someone with a concealed weapon could potentially stop a shooter or someone who’s threatening lives on the campus, Tacquard said.
Erin McKeon is a reporter for The Facts. Contact her at (979) 237-0152.
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