Concealed Carry on Campus is a Good Thing

The editorial board at the Dallas Morning News has no clue about concealed carry. They aren't alone though. Many University Presidents and Chancellors have no clue either, and they are the "educated ones".

One of the latest editorials in the DMN dealt with CHL holders being allowed to carry on campus. The editorial is obviously slanted in one direction and in my opinion, the editorial tries to mislead the readers. You can read the entire article here, but here are a few highlights.

Colleges and universities are places of learning, where young people converge, soak up knowledge, evolve and mature.

Inviting weaponry into the atmosphere recklessly introduces a risk factor into an already higher-risk age group. University presidents struggle with ways to tamp down the excesses of a youthful community, from hazing to substance abuse. Fostering responsible gun ownership is far too much to ask of a university administration.

First, the writer makes you think that colleges are civilized places of learning. Then the writer makes you think that college is a breeding ground of drugs and hazing. What? How did that happen? You can't have it both ways DMN.

Second, who is introducing guns into the environment recklessly? CHL holders are very responsible citizens who have gone through background checks, classes, and they practice shooting. The writer acts as if college students will be issued firearms during freshman orientation and told to go wild. I would also argue that it's not the administration's job to foster responsible gun ownership. Again, CHL holders are responsible people who don't need hand holding from the Administration.

That editorial doesn't even tell the reader that the students must be CHL holders to carry on campus. They ignore it completely. The one time that the writer brings up CHL holders, they never mention the word "college", they only bring up the word "classroom". The writer is trying to scare people by making them think that everyone will be able to carry on campus.

Here is another example of what the writer thinks about CHL holders:

Still, it’s a merely theoretical notion that the permit holder, after a few hours in the classroom, plus time on the firing range, has the training or nerve needed to stop a rampage-in-progress without causing collateral damage.

In other words, you folks who CHL's don't know how to use a gun.

Finally, the lack of common sense comes out even more in this paragraph:

Further, since the carnage that occurred at Virginia Tech, while horrific, is exceedingly rare, it makes no sense to allow a campus to be populated with guns based on that level of danger. The threat would seem to be higher from an accidental shooting or from an argument that escalated into gun violence.

That's right. The editorial board of the Dallas Morning News believes that there is more danger from CHL holders accidentally shooting each other, than a nut-job coming on campus and shooting up a classroom.

The writer clearly has no idea what they are talking about in my opinion. Our schools are "gun-free" zones which means absolutely nothing to the criminals who mean to us harm. We've heard these anti-gun arguments before and they didn't come true. We aren't dueling in the streets. Responsible Texans are arming themselves for protection, not to seek to kill.

If I was in a college classroom, I would hope that there were CHL holders who were carrying in case something ever did happen. Why not protect our students? Why not protect our classrooms?

Concealed carry on campus will pass here in Texas and you won't hear these horror stories that you hear from liberal editorial boards and liberal college administrators. I welcome it, and advise everyone to arm themselves. Don't rely on others to keep you safe.