Should Students Carry Concealed Weapons on Campus?

This idea is back in the Texas Legislature with a new bill Channel 5 NBCDFW.com reports.  This is Senate Bill 182.  You can watch this bill by clicking here.

This bill is not a new idea.  It was proposed during the past 82 Legislation also. At UT Austin, many students protested as well as some were for the bill.  Administrators clearly did not think this was a good idea.  This is where they stood according to The Shorthorn:

UT System chancellor Francisco Cigarroa – opposed
President James Spaniolo – opposed
Student Affairs Vice President Frank Lamas – opposed
UTA Student Congress – opposed


The legislators from that district were two out of three in favor. 
Sen. Chris Harris - favor
Rep. Barbara Nash - undecided
Rep. Bill Zedler - favor (co-signer)

* Note: Rep. Diane Patrick was unavailable for comment

There is no getting around it, the emotional impact of the Newtown shootings on the general population has opened an even greater emotional national debate.  I learned not to even mention it on my Facebook!  It immediately starts a family war.

Kidding aside, there are many serious issues and passionate stakeholders in this debate. It includes how we define mental illness, constitutional issues and, most of all economics including jobs. The firearms business is a multi-billion dollar ($11,000,000,000) industry in the U.S. with lots of money to override grass roots efforts. The yearly federal sales tax revenue is $123,000,000. This does not include the companies that sell firearm parts and accessories, clothing, courses, hunting services.... the list of tax paying businesses goes on. The number of background checks in 2011 was 16,000,000 with an annual yearly production of firearms at 3,444,375. The number of background checks does not represent just gun sales, it can also be transfers. It does represent the movement of firearms and their owners.

There are very few answers as what campus should do. What is clear in my mind is that individual campuses need to make decisions according to their campus values and locations.