Aggies lobby for concealed carry

A team of Texas A&M students will be heading to Austin to lobby state legislatures to support the concealed carry on campus bill on behalf of Students for Concealed Carry on Campus. The group has yet to determine a date of departure.   

Though Senate Bill 354 was rejected in 2009 by state legislatures, the issue is being readdressed. One of the primary authors is Republican Sen. Jeff Wentworth of San Antonio, who said those who carry concealed handguns on campus would hinder a shooter from acting.  

The officers of the group said arming students and staff would make campus safer.

"We feel it is a good time to start sending constituents to meet with their representatives down at the Capitol and share their story to show how removing this self-defense prohibition is important to them," said Derek Titus, a senior industrial engineering major and co-chairman of the group.

The organization is planning on sending those students who have contributed most and are most knowledgeable, or as State Director Chase Jennings said, the organization is planning to send "as many as can fit in the car."

"Every type of crime that occurs off campus can occur on campus, so I feel that students, faculty and staff should be able to use the same means to protect themselves on campus that they are allowed to use off campus," said Lisa MacIntyre, vice chairwoman of SCCC.

After the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007, where 32 people were killed and at least 15 were wounded, the incident at the University of Texas in September when 19-year-old Colton Tooley shot an AK-47 into the air and then ran into the library committing suicide, debates over gun licenses and concealed weapons on campus have arisen again.  

Now that Republicans have a supermajority in the Texas legislature, the chance that Senate Bill 354 passes is much more likely.  

According to Wentworth, having the right to carry on campus could prevent a similar occurrence of Virginia Tech from happening again.

"Right now, so-called gun-free zones, I think, ought to be renamed Victims Zones," Wentworth said.  

In Texas, based on a citizen's right to defend themselves, anyone 21 years and older who has a concealed handgun license, CHL, is permitted to carry a holstered weapon in public places, such as movie theaters, grocery stores and restaurants.  

"Many universities that already allow concealed carry holders to carry on campus have had no incidents and Texas would be no different. We believe that college campuses have no justification to be an exemption to the laws other public buildings across the state abide by," Titus said.

In order to obtain a CHL one must take a 10-hour class on weapons laws, non-violent dispute resolution, use of force, gun safety and basic marksmanship. There is then a shooting test that, according to Jennings, meets or exceeds the state's requirements for a law enforcement officer. Lastly, there is a state and federal fingerprint and background checks.  

"A person may not be ready to lead a SWAT team raid on a meth lab or follow a bunch of Navy SEALS into a cave in Afghanistan, but he or she has the knowledge necessary to safely carry and/or use a concealed handgun for self-defense," Jennings said.