Guns on campus debated

By Jaclyn Youngblood     4/16/09 7:00pm

The Texas state legislature is currently considering a bill that could have some college students up in arms. The bill, HB 1893, was introduced on March 5 by State Representative Joe Driver (R-Dallas). It would overturn the provision in the Texas penal code that states that no concealed handguns can be brought onto the premises of a college campus, Rice Chief of Police Bill Taylor said. As it stands, breaking this law is a third degree felony.

If the bill passes, it would be illegal for Texas institutions of higher learning to prohibit registered concealed handgun licensees from carrying their weapon on campus.

Vice President for Public Affairs Linda Thrane said there has been a push in favor of this legislation in the current session of the Texas assembly.

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Taylor said an amended version of the bill passed out of the House Committee on Public Safety April 8. In order to become law, the bill must be approved by two-thirds of the House as well as the Senate.

With the amendment, the bill would allow private institutions to consult with their students, faculty and staff to determine whether or not to change their individual policies, he said.

The Senate has its own version of the bill, SB 1164, which is being considered concurrently with the House version, Taylor said. He said the Senate's bill does not feature the amendment of the House bill, but has not moved out of committee yet. Should both chambers pass their respective bills, they would have to reconcile the two versions of the legislation.

"We don't know what to expect when it goes to the full floor," Thrane said.

Thrane said Rice, along with the Independent Colleges and Universities of Texas organization, is against the legislation. She said while the bill may have good intentions, it would likely lead to safety issues.

"More people carrying weapons . seems like a recipe for more shootings, not greater safety," she said.

Taylor said he does not completely disagree with the premise of the legislation based in the Bill of Rights.

"The second amendment of the United States Constitution says you have the right to carry arms ... for self-protection," he said. "[This debate] is a difficult argument to make."

Rice's current policy prohibits concealed weapons on campus.

"Someone who lives in a dorm has to store [their gun] at the RUPD office," Taylor said. He added RUPD currently has 12 weapons locked in a vault at the police station belonging to the Earth Science Department, which uses them to conduct seismology experiments.

Taylor said he has concerns for the Texas colleges and universities should the legislation pass. Taylor said if an RUPD officer reached a scene in which two active shooters - a Good Samaritan with a concealed handgun license trying to stop a malicious shooter - were involved, the officer would not be able to determine which shooter presented a threat. Officers are trained to eliminate an active shooter, Taylor said.

"We don't wait for SWAT," he said. "We can't. There are people being killed."

David Splinter, secretary of the Libertarians of Rice University club, said even if the legislation passes, most institutions will not see much of a difference.

"The legislation probably only applies to a few students," Splinter, an economics graduate student, said. "Only the people that already have a CHL, probably a really small percentage, would be allowed to bring their weapon onto campus."

Should the legislation pass without an exemption for private institutions, Thrane said many members of ICUT will likely file an appeal in court. She said the issue of concealed weapons on campus is something that each institution should have the power to regulate for itself.

"I would hope Rice students . wouldn't feel that they needed to pack heat to be safe," she said.

Peter Crews, a Will Rice College junior, said he does not feel threatened on campus. He said he is in favor of the legislation but does not think it would be feasible to implement at Rice.

"Rice is a wet campus," Crews said. "We have parties in our rooms, where the guns would be.

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