The actual letter submitted to The Kingwood Observer Follows
Another Item for College Students’ Back to School List in the Fall
One of the most memorable moments for many parents is sending their 18 year old off to college. In addition to the tremendous pride and overpowering feeling of still needing to protect them, there is the endless list of “things to buy and do” before leaving, like buying a computer and cell phone, furnishing the dorm room, getting a hepatitis shot, meeting the new roommate, shopping for a handgun….Yes, it seems that a new item is about to be added to college students’ Back to School list.
In House Bill 750, our Texas legislature is discussing the merits of arming our 21 and older college students, faculty, administration, staff, and college visitors with handguns. In fact our own newly elected state representative, Dan Huberty, cosponsored the bill. This means that college Juniors and Seniors will be “armed” while Freshmen and Sophomores will not, according to permitting rules for concealed handguns. If passed, this law will take effect this September.
As a retired university professor, I can only tell you about what I’ve seen and experienced with college-aged young adults. Students aged 18 to 22 come in all stages of development. While there may indeed be a few 21 year olds who are totally self-sufficient and ready to make life or death decisions in a split second, the vast majority of 21 year olds are not. What does this mean for your college student who is unarmed? It means that with everything else they must learn to cope with as a new or returning student, they must now wonder if the student sitting next to them in class is armed AND what might possibly set them off. Instead of worrying about College Algebra or first year French, they will be worrying about survival.
If this bill is passed, it gives an entirely different meaning to hazing, bullying, and date rape on college campuses especially as some students will be armed and some will not. It tends to pit those who have the handguns against those who do not. I have also observed that there are some college students who are still learning to handle the effects of alcohol when they go away to college. Imagine the deadly combination of alcohol and guns on a college campus.
Additionally, several state universities across Texas have come out with statements against this bill as voted on by the students, faculty, and administration. Remember, the rest of the nation is watching, and so are the parents, especially out of state parents who will think twice about sending their children to Texas schools. This will result in a loss of out of state tuition for our universities at a time when they are already struggling. Also, quality faculty will be more difficult to recruit if professors realize they will be facing students who are armed.
As a former English teacher at Humble High School many years ago, I would give my students a warm up in preparation for reading the novel, “To Kill A Mockingbird”. The question they had to answer was “Does anyone have the right to take the law into their own hands?” It took awhile for some, but they all came to the same conclusion, that a vigilante society is one that is doomed.
We are all writing our legacies in the choices we make each day, to speak up or not to speak up. How do we want to be remembered as a state, as a community, as human beings? None of us wants to look back and wonder, did we have an opportunity to speak out against this bill and look the other way? This involves all of us. Please contact your state representative, Dan Huberty, and let him know that we do not want our universities to become armed camps. House Bill 750 is a losing proposition for our students, our teachers, and our state.
Diane Trautman, Ed., D.
Retired Professor of Education
Stephen F. Austin State University and
Sam Houston State University
My Book: As I See It: Class Warfare The Only Resort To Right Wing Doom
Book’s Webpage: http://bit.ly/aB9Zkz – Twitter: http://twitter.com/egbertowillies
