On June 13, 2015, Texas governor Greg Abbott signed into effect Senate Bill 11 while attending a shooting range in Pflugerville, Texas. Senate Bill 11 allows for licensed holders to carry a concealed firearm on college campuses. It was accompanied by Abbott calling some shooting tragedies in other states “overblown.”
The fact of the matter is is that these mass shootings are not overblown, especially those that have happened at college campuses all across the United States. Allowing firearms on campus doesn’t promote security. It doesn’t deter someone from committing a mass shooting. It does the exact opposite for some people. Some feel uneasy knowing the fact that come next Fall semester, someone in their class will probably have a loaded firearm. The fact that someone they don’t know at all has a weapon that is highly lethal is extremely unsettling for many students, regardless of if the individual has a concealed handgun license or not.
Many students, organizations, and even some law enforcement have decried the law. It’s a tricky thing especially for law enforcement. Though some may have a firearm on them in the case of an active shooter situation, it causes confusion for law enforcement. If you have an active shooter on the campus, it is hard to decide between who is just a student trying to help or the actual personal committing the act. Accidents could happen, and someone could get injured or worse.
Another factor is that a person who is planning to commit a mass shooting won’t be detered just because someone may have a firearm in the room. The decision is usually made weeks, sometimes months in advance. The concealed carrier in the room may have a sort of equalizer, but that makes them an immediate target, not to mention that if they take a shot at the shooter, someone could get caught in the crossfire, and more lives could be lost.
A better resolution for an active shooter could be to increase police patrols in the buildings at the campus rather than just patrolling the parking lots and writing tickets. You could put an office in every building on campus. To just give someone the ability to carry their firearm on campus to ensure come kind of security is foolish and irresponsible, and most of all, it could be extremely dangerous.