Safety and comfort in the debate over campus carry
When students return to Texas public university campuses this fall, they will notice something different.
Signs and posted information have been tacked on to many university buildings to tell them where they can bring guns and where they can’t. Most if not all private campuses in the state will have “open carry of handguns prohibited” signs.
But that’s likely to be the only noticeable difference.
Monday marks the beginning of state-mandated “campus carry,” in which students and visitors are allowed to take registered concealed handguns into most campus buildings.
Campus carry isn’t open or free carry. Those who bring guns must be 21 years old or older and have a state-issued handgun license.
Students, staff or faculty won’t see any guns in a holster clipped to someone’s belt.
Most won’t notice the guns at all.
Campus carry has caused a lively discussion, one that flares brighter on certain campuses. The University of Texas at Austin has made headlines with its turmoil, while others quietly adapted to the changes.
When “open carry” took effect in January in non-campus Texas, it was met with few problems. Almost eight months later, heated discussion has fizzled to be point of being virtually nonexistent.
The same will happen at universities, because it all boils down to comfort versus safety.
In a recent discussion about the Fort Worth school district transgender guidelines, Superintendent Kent Scibner said he learned a lot about the difference between comfort and safety.
A student might feel uncomfortable in a restroom or locker room with a transgender person, but that doesn’t mean they are not safe.
The same concept is true with campus carry.
Guns on campus might make some uncomfortable, but it doesn’t necessarily make them less safe.
Once people realize that, most of the opposition will go away.
Concealed carry isn’t something new; students encounter guns off-campus all the time without knowing it.
Students don’t go to the local grocery store fearing violence, nor do that grocery store’s employees worry that a licensed handgun owner might pull a gun on them.
Why should a college campus be any different?
This story was originally published July 29, 2016 at 6:21 PM with the headline "Safety and comfort in the debate over campus carry."