LETTER: Guns on Campus: Do our ‘Representatives’ represent us?
On his first day on the job as the elected representative of our 36th district, Congressman Steve Stockman, a UHCL alumnus, introduced legislation to repeal gun free school zones (Houston Chronicle: 1/20/13).
During the 2011 Texas legislative session, our District 129 Texas State Representative, John E. Davis, also a UHCL alumnus, and our District 11 Texas State Senator Larry Taylor co-sponsored House Bill 750 that allowed concealed weapons to be carried on college campuses.
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst recently proposed spending state money to train teachers and school employees to carry concealed weapons, but said nothing about using surplus funds from the state coffers this year to replenish the $5.4 billion cut from the state education fund during the 2011 legislative session, a cut which forced UHCL to absorb a 20% budget decrease.
Do the actions of these elected representatives reflect the views of the UHCL community that they serve? The UHCL community (students, educators, employees) must come together to have a conversation and develop a consensus position regarding guns on campus.
If our community agrees with our legislators, we need to know. If our community disagrees with our elected legislators, we must meet with them to ensure that our voices are heard just as loudly as the other voices that endorsed and contributed to their campaigns, such as the NRA, Gun Owners of America, the National Association for Gun Rights, and Citizens United.
UHCL consistently ranks as one of the safest if not THE safest campus in Texas. Our community is wonderfully diverse both ethnically and culturally. We serve a wide variety of students from traditional students to grandmothers, parents working full time, students working several jobs, and international students.
Our campus is an oasis within an urban community. Our students feel comfortable openly voicing their opinions both in class discussion and in student organizations. How would concealed handguns affect open discourse among students and faculty? How would allowing concealed guns on campus affect our culture?
While the actions of lone shooters in Sandy Hook, Colorado, and Virginia Tech are shocking, a more problematic scenario would be like that which took place on the campus of Lone Star College January 22, 2013, where a human being in a moment of anger and passion pulled an illegal pistol from a backpack and started shooting. Some argue that guns should be allowed on campus in order for students to be able defend themselves that had another student been armed at Lone Star, the situation would have been quickly resolved. I strongly disagree. Making it legal to carry guns on campus would increase the possibility of another incident exponentially.
A tense situation where dozens of people have guns drawn is terrifying, not to mention the ramifications of a “friendly fire” incident where civilians (students, faculty, employees) carrying weapons could mistakenly shoot innocent people. How would first responders be able to determine the identity of the initial shooter if others have guns and are shooting as well? But most important, what would be the impact on the academic freedom within our UHCL culture if students and teachers guard their words and studies out of fear?
We owe it to ourselves as a community to have a thoughtful and open dialogue about gun policy and to somehow reach a consensus. We must establish our position quickly and make that position known to our legislators before laws are enacted during the current Texas legislative session, which ends in April. If we can reach a consensus within our community, perhaps we can become a model for others. We must try. We owe it to our students, faculty, and employees to keep this educational oasis we call UHCL safe.
Mary Margaret Lobb
Adjunct Professor in Humanities
UHCL Alumna
