tag:theconversation.com,2011:/global/topics/university-of-texas-21137/articlesUniversity of Texas – The Conversation2016-08-17T01:39:01Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/634952016-08-17T01:39:01Z2016-08-17T01:39:01ZWhy the guns-on-campus debate matters for American higher education<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134147/original/image-20160815-13025-rqacx5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">What will be the impact of allowing guns on campus?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mtefft/6303956250/in/photolist-aB4qyS-EqNxBH-oQLa7-dSg5dU-dSg5oh-aB4qwG-b72gUP-7cvwpF-7Xh1oZ-ehxku7-dUkT94-aBjT6g-ehrCwr-ehxng3-7Xh1p8-aBny8h-7XkeUu-aBjSxF-excNc6-7XkeVE-ehxkno-9oYzfL-excMTi-aBjSSr-exfYjf-9y55un-7pXpKG-9oVsTn-excP4z-9y83Wf-9y55tR-7Xh1nX-4rbcJN-9NJhg3-9y55yH-exg4R5-exg3MJ-Kzbc9-7XkeTm-86Qk8o-9y83UG-dSg5hY-ehxkHC-ehrBHi-ehxkRd-ehrCcv-ehrBx2-ehrBbX-ehrA9z-ehxmLU">Michael Tefft</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As of Aug. 1, 2016, a new law allows concealed handguns in college and university buildings in Texas.</p>
<p>It’s already had an impact on me as professor of religious studies at the University of Texas at Austin. Thanks to this law, I set foot in a federal court building for the first time. </p>
<p>And I was not alone. The courtroom was packed. Other citizens were there as well to support <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2016/07/06/3-ut-austin-professors-sue-state-over-campus-carry/">three professors</a> who are suing the state’s attorney general and the University of Texas for the right to ban guns from their own classrooms.</p>
<p>Why are these professors taking the extraordinary step of suing the state of Texas and their own university? </p>
<p>In order to understand the situation, we need to consider the political tensions between the legislature and the university, the ideological struggle over the goals of higher education and the possible dangers of bringing more guns to campuses.</p>
<h2>Campus carry law in Texas</h2>
<p>Until this year, Texas law allowed anyone with a <a href="http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/rsd/chl/faqs/index.htm">Concealed Handgun License</a> (CHL) to carry a loaded hidden gun on campus, but not inside buildings. This restriction kept down the number of people carrying weapons legally on campus.</p>
<p>During the 2015 legislative session, a majority of Republicans pushed the idea to allow guns on campus. University <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2015/01/29/mcraven-campus-carry-would-create-less-safe-enviro/">administrators</a>, <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rpgTiKUSFGVmnmYRUR_9vuIijQBfFclV4X44UmKJqkM/edit">faculty</a>, <a href="https://wikis.utexas.edu/download/attachments/139889698/D%2014033.pdf?version=1&amp;modificationDate=1465500692000&amp;api=v2">faculty council</a>, <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1f_HP0CD0HKsaPk8ObIumbLMxe2LQncfaq9NLF50ynoE/edit">staff</a>, <a href="http://www.dailytexanonline.com/2015/02/18/student-government-votes-to-oppose-state-senate-campus-carry-proposal">undergraduate</a> and <a href="http://gunfreeut.org/petitions/graduate-student-petition/">graduate</a> students and campus police overwhelmingly opposed the idea.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134148/original/image-20160815-13035-i705wi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134148/original/image-20160815-13035-i705wi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134148/original/image-20160815-13035-i705wi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134148/original/image-20160815-13035-i705wi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134148/original/image-20160815-13035-i705wi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134148/original/image-20160815-13035-i705wi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134148/original/image-20160815-13035-i705wi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">University of Texas campus.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/drmillerlg/6825680645/in/photolist-bpap44-52Ay4D-dNGCAB-6QuQat-7hVCSn-5Fz9Xv-jvELx-4ZwcyH-CG6Cz-64hfSQ-qYDAy-6hMx84-6aA7N4-9kAaQ2-8ffnJy-8ffoSU-41JZah-dNsec2-HRznKP-JF39uT-9AsBeY-HRzn6n-qbSsqK-pRjuYG-5jVqbk-9y55vz-dNychr-qJHHPm-deKeZN-dfEscr-dfE93W-fMbkzs-deKfF6-J2SR-dfEHWz-dfXCN8-EbYhuH-jvG1y-edXkiW-5ysUGi-96RWFH-7hZwDS-5FDeGE-7hZEEJ-5u25ha-7hZyn1-dfLFgU-dH7y1T-7hZw1b-6hMw5X">Larry Miller</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
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<p>However, in spite of campus opposition, in May 2015, the proposed law, known as <a href="http://www.legis.state.tx.us/tlodocs/84R/billtext/pdf/SB00011F.pdf#navpanes=0">Senate Bill 11</a> (SB 11), was approved. So, as of Aug. 1, 2016, anyone with a concealed handgun license can carry a loaded, semiautomatic pistol into most offices, classrooms, hallways, public spaces, cafeterias and gyms at state universities. All that they need: four hours of training and a score of 70 percent accuracy on a shooting test.</p>
<p>Supporters argue that Americans have a <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/second_amendment">constitutional right</a> to protect themselves and <a href="http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/rsd/chl/faqs/index.htm">carry weapons</a> with as few limits as possible. Carrying guns into classrooms, they say, is part of that right.</p>
<h2>Clash of ideologies</h2>
<p>For many of us, however, this conflict is about a larger ideological battle over the goals and character of higher education in Texas, with one side emphasizing obedience to authority and the other the need to critique authority.</p>
<p>Let’s consider these two views of education.</p>
<p>The ideology of higher education in the U.S. has historically focused on critical thinking, and faculty overwhelmingly see this as the primary goal <a href="http://www.heri.ucla.edu/PDFs/pubs/FAC/Norms/Monographs/TheAmericanCollegeTeacher2007To2008.pdf">(see especially Table 3)</a> of college and university classes. According to this view, universities and colleges are encouraged to question orthodoxy. In other words, higher education should subject all truth claims to intense scrutiny.</p>
<p>The goal of this process is not to tear down society but to make it better, to allow us to develop our full potential as individuals and as a nation in the pursuit of liberty and justice.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134151/original/image-20160815-13007-grdy34.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134151/original/image-20160815-13007-grdy34.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134151/original/image-20160815-13007-grdy34.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134151/original/image-20160815-13007-grdy34.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134151/original/image-20160815-13007-grdy34.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134151/original/image-20160815-13007-grdy34.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134151/original/image-20160815-13007-grdy34.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Will guns on campus allow critical thinking?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/joeri_van_veen/2851812496/in/photolist-5m1huY-pMsgVg-aHFC9x-aEpj9N-rrLF4E-eeRaTk-piDJC6-akuhQv-9NBgLg-nKMTvn-c6qwTw-zf2qEG-6QQWZ-7oU666-jBVrTQ-6MLZ8f-6Sbrhi-8PNcQU-hf4Fsq-5NHefB-81JzpW-LKzD4-9EEhqP-hTKJR7-938Eke-7BPook-oLgEPD-MoFbh-5Adove-5TwvyE-7Ewwyd-amRRFm-J8Cbx-J3k8pj-aTr66V-hy1YPe-4EHWv1-81JzLb-hxZsnC-nKiL3P-nqVizp-bRMJW2-2oNKyk-4DX1uB-2ghA5v-cXQof-7jynA1-on1CFc-6ba5dy-eMiv4R">Joeri van Veen</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But here is where the conflict comes in. As the discussion below shows, the campus carry movement has, it seems, a different ideology for higher education. The underlying motivation is that traditional authority must be maintained and, in the end, disagreement is resolved by force, not by debate. For this ideology, critical thinking is a potential threat to authority.</p>
<h2>Republican Party principles</h2>
<p>Evidence for this comes from the ideas expressed in the Texas Republican Party platform, a formal declaration of the principles on which a party stands and makes it appeal to voters.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.texasgop.org/wp-content/themes/rpt/images/2012Platform_Final.pdf">2012 Texas Republican Party Platform</a> took an explicit stand against “critical thinking skills and similar programs…that focus on behavior modification and have the purpose of challenging the student’s fixed beliefs and undermining parental authority.”</p>
<p>Subsequently, the <a href="https://www.texasgop.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/PERM-PLATFORM.pdf">2016 Texas Republican Platform</a> stepped back from that extreme statement. But it still asserted that parents or guardians – not the government – should have ultimate control over the education of their children.</p>
<p>In the 2016 platform, both guns and religion are discussed in the section on education. Here is what it looks like:</p>
<p>The section on education supports the radical position that all law-abiding citizens should be able to carry guns anywhere without restriction. It says,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“We collectively urge the legislature to pass ‘constitutional carry’ legislation, whereby law-abiding citizens that possess firearms can legally exercise their God-given right to carry that firearm as well. We call for the elimination of all gun free zones. All federal acts, laws, executive orders, and court orders which restrict or infringe on the people’s right to keep and bear arms shall be invalid in Texas, not be recognized by Texas, shall be specifically rejected by Texas, and shall be considered null and void and of no effect in Texas.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Another paragraph in the education section discusses “safeguarding religious liberties.” This one begins by saying,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“We affirm that the public acknowledgment of God is undeniable in our history and is vital to our freedom, prosperity, and strength.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It goes on to denounce “the myth of separation of church and state,” and it supports the right of businesses to refuse service to anyone based on religious conviction.</p>
<p>What this does is to reaffirm the ideology of the Republican Party of Texas – that education should be governed by traditional authorities of family and conservative forms of Protestant Christianity and not by critical inquiry.</p>
<p>In other words, religious commitment of individuals is more important than civil rights. Furthermore, according to this traditionalist view of authority, liberty and safety are preserved not so much by critique and analysis as by encouraging everyone to carry a gun.</p>
<h2>Views from ground zero</h2>
<p>This raises the question of how this ideology affects students and professors in the classroom.</p>
<p>As the political battle raged in the Texas legislature in spring 2016, I taught a science and religion class in which we spent the semester analyzing the volatile debates in the U.S. about human evolution and creationism.</p>
<p>I asked my students how they would feel about the possible presence of guns in classrooms.</p>
<p>One student self-identified as having a concealed handgun license and did not have trouble with the presence of guns. But most others thought that it would make them more cautious and less forthright in class. One student said she would be vigilant about how other students were acting. Another said she would censor her opinions. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134152/original/image-20160815-13037-1cvqo3a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134152/original/image-20160815-13037-1cvqo3a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134152/original/image-20160815-13037-1cvqo3a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134152/original/image-20160815-13037-1cvqo3a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134152/original/image-20160815-13037-1cvqo3a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134152/original/image-20160815-13037-1cvqo3a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134152/original/image-20160815-13037-1cvqo3a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Protests on campus against campus carry.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/seiya234/3508706303/in/photolist-nyeumt-4rpyFe-nf2i45-ppbVJH-6m46BR-6m439g-6m45ra-6m43yZ-zHRHhx-6m42J6-6m473D-6m8eB1-Cm7gpu-zkogXe-yomEmf-zkod9H-yov8eM-z3Lpf3-z3MyS5-zmeDoi-z3Lnyh-yov66Z">Katie Labor</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The sentiment they expressed was confirmed in anonymous polling I conducted before our discussion. Two students (11 percent) were in favor of concealed carry on campus as demanded by SB 11, while 13 (68 percent) thought guns should be completely illegal on campus except for law officers. Only three students (16 percent) felt that SB 11 would make them safer, while 11 (58 percent) expected that the law would make campus less safe.</p>
<p>While one class is hardly a representative sample, these numbers reflect discussions I’ve had with my classes over the last few semesters. The numbers also match a variety of conversations I’ve had on campus.</p>
<h2>What might change on campus?</h2>
<p>As a professor, I have other concerns for my students beyond the classroom. We work with students at a difficult time in their lives as they work through the transition to adulthood. Some of them also face serious emotional issues. When I have to deal with failed exams, missed assignments and occasional plagiarism or cheating, I sometimes worry about how they will respond.</p>
<p>So far I have not encountered physical threats to my own safety, but I know faculty who have. While waiting in line for the security screening at the federal courthouse, I learned of two more examples. One was a professor of computer sciences who told me about the time when he was physically shoved and verbally abused by a student who got a B rather than an A.</p>
<p>He decided not to press charges. But when the legislature passed the campus carry law, he retired rather than face the possibility of legal weapons in university buildings. Another faculty member told of the time she had to convince her dean to drop a student from her class midsemester for anti-Semitic remarks the student made about her.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.thetrace.org/2015/11/campus-carry-self-defense-accidental-shootings-research/">Systematic studies</a> point toward other problems that await us if we increase the number of guns on campus. We can expect more accidental shootings, more successful suicide attempts and perhaps even an increase in sexual assaults. In the event of an actual active shooter event, we can expect that an armed civilian will <a href="https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2014/september/fbi-releases-study-on-active-shooter-incidents/pdfs/a-study-of-active-shooter-incidents-in-the-u.s.-between-2000-and-2013">make no difference or even make the situation worse.</a></p>
<h2>Will guns change the character of higher education?</h2>
<p>The ideological struggle will continue. Polling early in 2015 showed that <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2015/02/24/uttt-poll-voters-less-open-open-carry/">Texans were divided on campus carry</a>: 47 percent were in favor, 45 percent were opposed and 8 percent were unsure (this included 22 percent strongly supporting and 32 percent strongly opposed). <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/1735492333368681/">Campus protests</a> and a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/1686524198249678/">satirical student campaign</a> against SB 11 are planned.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134153/original/image-20160815-13042-1kj2y79.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134153/original/image-20160815-13042-1kj2y79.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134153/original/image-20160815-13042-1kj2y79.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134153/original/image-20160815-13042-1kj2y79.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134153/original/image-20160815-13042-1kj2y79.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134153/original/image-20160815-13042-1kj2y79.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134153/original/image-20160815-13042-1kj2y79.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">What’s the difference that the new law will make?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-47016223/stock-photo-gun-and-book-concept.html?src=mHAJltIsAB7SbOUdBd-s4A-1-5">Gun image via www.shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Supporters of the law have filed a <a href="http://concealedcampus.org/2016/08/students-for-concealed-carry-files-complaint-against-university-of-texas-system/">formal complaint</a> with the attorney general’s office to make the law stronger by preventing faculty and staff from banning guns in their own offices. Legal papers filed by the University of Texas and the state attorney general <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2016/08/11/u-texas-punish-professors-who-bar-guns-class">have stated</a> that professors would face disciplinary measures if they barred guns from classrooms. There is significant political pressure and <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/gunned-down/">special interest money</a> to expand gun rights. </p>
<p>If the <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2016/08/04/no-ruling-campus-carry-challenge/">lawsuit</a> of the three professors is not successful, we will begin to find out fairly soon what difference SB 11 will actually make in real lives – in the classroom, in the relationships of students, faculty and staff – and in the character of higher education in an American setting.</p>
<p>The actual difference will not be abstract or theoretical. Both opponents and supporters of SB 11 claim that the struggle over guns on campus is a matter of life and death.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/63495/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Steven J. Friesen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Do guns on campus threaten the very ideology of American higher education – one that encourages critical thinking and intense scrutiny?Steven J. Friesen, Professor, Louise Farmer Boyer Chair in Biblical Studies, The University of Texas at AustinLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/485492015-10-02T20:44:43Z2015-10-02T20:44:43ZUniversity of Texas faculty are uneasy about ‘campus carry’<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/97115/original/image-20151002-23101-1oq4hx2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A line is drawn in Roseburg, Oregon, Oct. 2, 2015. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lucy Nicholson/REUTERS</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>I fear our senses will become dulled to horrific news like Thursday’s, when a gunman <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/03/us/oregon-shooting-umpqua-chris-harper-mercer.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news">opened fire</a> on an Oregon community college, killing nine and wounding 10. I fear we will forget, again and again.</p>
<p>Oregon is <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/02/us/oregon-shooting-umpqua-community-college.html">one of the seven states</a> that now have provisions allowing the carrying of concealed weapons on public post-secondary campuses. </p>
<p>Although this latest shooting took place halfway across the country, it hit close to home here in Austin, Texas. </p>
<h2>New ‘campus carry’ law</h2>
<p>Earlier this year, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed <a href="http://www.legis.state.tx.us/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=84R&Bill=SB11">SB 11</a>, also known as the “campus carry” law. The law provides that license holders may carry concealed handguns in university buildings and classrooms, extending the reach of a previous law that allowed concealed handguns on university grounds. The law goes into effect August 1 2016 for public colleges and universities and a year later for community colleges.</p>
<p>As a member of the faculty at the University of Texas at Austin, I wonder if we are just supposed to forget and carry on, pretending this is not an issue, writing it off as another instance of “how things are here in Texas”? </p>
<p>I fear that, given the letter of the law and the limited exceptions that it allows, we will have to get used to guns inside our classrooms. </p>
<p>I fear that the fact of sharing a classroom with students “packing heat” will stop shocking us as it now does. </p>
<p>I fear I should not even be writing this, as many gun rights activists take reactions to the extreme when an opposing view is offered.</p>
<h2>A problem for recruitment</h2>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/97110/original/image-20151002-23101-mnrcb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/97110/original/image-20151002-23101-mnrcb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97110/original/image-20151002-23101-mnrcb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97110/original/image-20151002-23101-mnrcb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97110/original/image-20151002-23101-mnrcb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97110/original/image-20151002-23101-mnrcb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97110/original/image-20151002-23101-mnrcb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Signs like this may soon be illegal on UT campus.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/criminalintent/8151904957/in/photolist-dqmDkt-ib9NSb-74hLng-5jq9zP-6gyr71-7nErbm-7JrEyY-7wrMTW-9XCrM6-dVpsrE-dViSsz-bcnegH-5UVpDA-3bA59v-2i3wa1-7BU2d2-7F4yfk-8oty9T-7wnZ3c-7wrDkW-7fqhA1-7wnYM6-7wrMyN-7JnKEx-o3Yq5Y-7wnR8X-7wnPve-7wnPZM-7wrDPY-7wnPhk-6c9pMN-7jUnAw-7jQtRn-czuicN-8KqKEk-a4MbD6-bYhfms-a1Rwuf-9oM7Wc-cdmrF-dCA9op-9Jfw64-dViRGF-dVpqZb-4g77KN-7jQtGr-aXwggX-76JZfC-5JLcna-arVM4X">Lars Plougmann/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This state of affairs also saddens me because I believe it will irrevocably hurt a university that for the last two decades has worked hard to become a top institution of higher education. </p>
<p>Even as UT President Greg Fenves works with us to develop a policy for implementation of campus carry, the new law presents an ethical puzzle. Could I now, in good conscience, attempt to persuade a prospective graduate student or faculty – the “top talent” the university seeks to attract – to join us? I don’t think I can.</p>
<p>Another law passed by the Legislature this year, <a href="http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=84R&Bill=SB273">SB 273</a>, might prevent me and <a href="https://www.change.org/p/no-guns-in-our-classrooms-gun-free-ut?recruiter=7572902&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink">170 other faculty members</a> who have signed a petition stating they don’t want guns in their classroom from hanging a sign saying “no guns allowed.” The law might even forbid me from stating in my syllabus that I won’t allow guns. To what extent that conflicts with “free speech” is another – but, at least for me, less important – legal matter.</p>
<p>Shouldn’t I tell prospective students and faculty that I am, in fact, profoundly afraid and that they should think twice about coming to the University of Texas? If we are honest, the law will effectively prevent us from recruiting highly sought-after faculty and students.</p>
<h2>Refuse to forget</h2>
<p>Here’s another idea: We could agree to refuse to forget about SB 11. </p>
<p>We could manifest our opposition and, if necessary, refuse to teach in classrooms where guns are allowed. We could hang signs stating that we don’t allow guns – at the risk, as many a lawyer already warned us, of being fined. </p>
<p>Parents of UT students could write letters to university administrators and legislators expressing their worries about the one (heavily) documented effect this bill will have – ie, making campuses <a href="http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/hicrc/">less safe</a> spaces. </p>
<p>My students could get over their hesitancy to tell their parents about this new development. “If I tell my mother, she will transfer me,” is the sentiment they express now. I think parents are right to be concerned. I wouldn’t want my own sons to attend this university. </p>
<p>I’ve been around guns (big and small). I’ve been a soldier and I do research on <a href="http://press.princeton.edu/titles/10456.html">interpersonal violence</a>. </p>
<p>With campus carry, social, political or academic interactions will have the potential to explode in lethal violence. We knew that before the campus-carry law passed, and we know it now. </p>
<p>I can dwell on the <a href="http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/hicrc/">arguments</a>, I can show <a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/article36880293.html">numbers</a>, piles of <a href="http://tpr.org/post/new-texas-am-study-says-concealed-carry-licenses-dont-reduce-crime#stream/0">evidence</a> and <a href="https://news.tamhsc.edu/?post=concealed-handgun-permits-have-no-impact-on-crime-rates">case studies</a> all confirming these facts.</p>
<p>But the campus-carry debate in the Legislature was not about logical, evidence-based, argumentation. </p>
<p>Had it been about logics and evidence, the reasons persuasively put forward by UT Chancellor William H <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/2015/01/29/mcraven-campus-carry-would-create-less-safe-enviro/">McRaven</a>, a former Navy SEAL, and <a href="http://kxan.com/2015/02/13/chief-acevedo-stands-by-statements-on-campus-carry-bill/">Art Acevedo</a>, chief of the Austin Police Department – both of whom know a thing or two about the subject – would have been heeded. They both opposed the new legislation with a similar argument: Allowing concealed weapons to be carried on campuses would create “less-safe” environments.</p>
<p>Lawmakers did not examine their arguments or anyone else’s because the “debate” was not about reason but about interests – the legislators’ interests and those of the organizations that support them. They, folks who neither teach nor do research, enacted a law that makes no sense for any the parties affected, and now we have to deal with the consequences.</p>
<p>In the same spirit of defending personal and organizational interests, let me express my hope that the university will make provisions to protect the interests of the students, staff and faculty who want to work, teach and learn in gun-free environments where everybody can freely express his or her ideas without fear.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/48549/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Javier Auyero received funding from The National Science Foundation and the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation. </span></em></p>The shooting in Oregon hit close to home in Texas, where the governor recently signed a law allowing guns in college classrooms.Javier Auyero, Professor of Latin American Sociology, The University of Texas at AustinLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.