By Jade Simon
SAN MARCOS, Texas – On August 1, 2016, Texas passed legislation permitting concealed handgun license holders to carry their weapons on public university campuses. Two years later, opinions about campus carry among Texas residents are still as polarized as when the legislation was signed into law.
Esperanza Cuevas, a 21-year-old student at Texas State University, recalled being afraid when the law first passed because of political tensions on campus at the time.
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| Cuevas, 21, pictured at Texas State University. |
“I was nervous about being on campus because I feared that maybe someone would get triggered by what people at the stallions were either protesting or discussing,” Cuevas said.
Administrative Assistant at the Center for Texas Music History at Texas State University Kristi Madden, 45, echoed similar sentiments, concerned that guns on campus would lead to an unsafe environment where tensions are already running high.
“When racial tensions are high, when we come to work and there are "Blood and Soil" flyers taped to our doors, I come into my office and I lock the door and I cry,” Madden said. “Because I don't even want to be at work, it doesn't feel like a safe place.”
The campus carry law only allows only those with a concealed handgun license who are over 21, as well as most veterans, to carry a weapon on campus. Former Texas State student and veteran Elliot Golden says it doesn’t make him feel any safer.
“As a veteran myself, I don’t even think I should be able to have one,” Golden said. “There are all kinds of reasons, mental health, history, stress, and so on, that contribute to the ability to use a gun safely. And getting a CHL is too easy, and doesn’t take all of that into account in a thorough way.”
While many Texas residents disagree with the legislation, there are others who support it and believe the law supports a bigger issue at hand – Second Amendment rights. Though, even those who support the right to bear arms have their fears about who can obtain and use a gun safely.
“I think you have to look at the larger gun control issues as a whole,” veteran and San Marcos resident Joseph Barmore said. “While I’m pro-Second Amendment, I think that there are some people who shouldn’t just be able to go to a weekend class and carry a weapon around, but people who are appropriately trained and have experience should fully be able to enjoy their second amendment rights on or off campus.”
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| Fowler, 23. |
Zachary Fowler, a 23-year-old graduate student agreed but has reservations about whether or not the law changed safety on campus for the good.
“I’d like to say yes, but I’m conflicted,” Fowler said. “I think it’s nice to have people defending themselves, but the risk of accidents goes up with more guns around.”
Concerns about an increase in violence when more guns are allowed on campus, legal or not, is a sentiment held on both sides of the issue. Some, like 22-year-old Texas State student Dylan Dembowski, believe there’s a simple solution.
“I feel it is a smart move since really the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with one,” Dembowski said. “There is a better chance that a tragedy will be stopped.”
Others disagree, including Jacob Rosen, a 24-year-old Texas Resident and Chicago native. Rosen recounted being faced with a gun himself while living in the south side of Chicago, where gun violence is a leading issue in the community. Even after the experience, he still believes the solution to guns is not more guns.
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| Rosen, 24, pictured in Austin, Texas. |
“To all of the guns rights activists who think they’re heroes: you’re either not going to have the courage, or you won’t have the gun on you, or worse you’ll cause more harm than good,” Rosen said. “Where there are more guns, there’s more violence.”
Though many appear to be on one side or the other, most Texas residents on either side can agree on one thing: the uneasiness they experience at the thought of campus carry allowing guns into the wrong hands on campus.
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