Waving an American flag and holding red, white and blue handmade signs, they yelled, “Hey! Ho! Campus carry’s got to go” and “It’s not American to keep campus dangerous.”
This handful of Lubbock residents stood on the sidewalk by the Broadway and University Avenue entrance to the Texas Tech University campus this afternoon, protesting Texas Senate Bill 11 (SB 11). If passed, this proposed legislation will allow students with a concealed handgun license to carry guns on public university campuses.
Above and below, a group protests Texas Senate Bill 11 on the sidewalk by the Texas Tech University campus on Wednesday.
Two students walked by the protesters, shaking their heads.
“(Expletive) retards,” one of the passerby students muttered, but the student declined to comment further.
Sam Fincher, a 20-year-old student, qualified his personal opinion concerning campus carry.
“I’m all for the right to bear arms, honestly,” Fincher said. “Obviously not every student should have a gun, maybe some professors or something.”
Brandishing a sign reading “#SafeEnough,” Cole Adams, president of Tech Student Democrats, said the group received a variety of responses from drivers and student foot traffic.
“We got a lot of really positive response and a few, minority negative responses,” Adams said, explaining most students agreed with concealed carry but thought it didn’t belong on campus. “And, you know, we’re gotten some remarks from people that didn’t agree with us, that we’re using inappropriate language.”
Comprised of another representative from the Tech Student Democrats and a couple of women from the Lubbock County Democratic Party, the group expressed its opposition to the bill through a variety of explanations.
“Science has proven that until the age of 21, you’re not 100-percent mature,” Adams said, referencing his belief some students could harm others. “On top of that, campus is a place where a lot of stress is going on.”
Texas Tech alumna Mary Ann Lawson, a member of the LCDP and Texas Democratic Women, outlined her dissent.
“Students are here to learn,” Lawson said. “Teachers are here to teach, and I don’t feel like it would be safe.”
Another LCDP affiliate, Marjorie Reynolds, carried a poster marked “More… Guns… #Tombstone.”
“I got over two degrees from Texas Tech,” the retired school teacher began, “and I didn’t have to threaten anybody with a gun to get any of those hours.”
SB 11 is on a fast track to become a state law, according to Texas State Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock.
“It’s up in conference. We’re just going to see what the final version looks like,” Perry said to The Hub@TTU via phone from the Texas Senate floor. “Campus carry will probably pass, but it’s got a long way to go in the House.”
About Allison Terry
While we face daily frustration due to the sometimes very liberal & many of us consider very wrong teachings in the classrooms of our children & grandchildren we pay for colleges through our taxes as well as tuitions. Luckily we can vote to influence legislation directed toward the interest of the majority, this has occurred in this situation, the majority believes as supported by actual facts that campuses with concealed carry & teacher carry are not victims of these assaults where ‘No Gun Zones ” are easy targets for murdering cowards. Many of us believe that it is totally slanted & unfair for the children of our legislators & the president & his cabinet go to schools with armed security & teachers as well as maintenance, security personel etc. are armed, have had no incidents of attack. In other words the 1% rich & elite kids are protected, ours are set up as targets in order to push through gun controls. For your information that 1% is primarily Democrats & liberals contrary to reports & articles. At this time we as Americans have the right to send our children & grandchildren to schools we believe to be safer, you will find a drop in enrollment as you ban the safety of our kids, as well as contributions will be diverted to schools we believe are doing the most to protect our loved ones.