Thank You, Texas Legislature
Tarleton State University, a part of the Texas A&M system, allows campus carry at the insistence of the Texas Legislature so that Texas college and university students can be safer. Seems to be working so far.
A student at Tarleton State University accidentally fired a gun at a campus residence hall Wednesday, officials said.
The student, who is trained and licensed to carry, reported accidentally discharging a firearm about 6:30 p.m. in Integrity Hall, a co-ed dorm that primarily houses second-year students, university spokesman Harry Battson said.
There were no injuries, and property damage was “minimal,” he said.
Because guns make you just a tad safer than walking into a lion’s den with pork chops in your back pocket.
Well, how safe do you think the rest of the students in that dorm feel now?
1Yes, it makes me feel much safer that one or more of the strangers around me may be carrying the means to kill me instantly in their pocket.
2Especially if, like most universities, they require all students to live in the dorms, at least freshman year. Do the students at least get to choose between shootin’ and non-shootin’ buildings?
If I had a kid, no way would they be going to school there.
3Good thing he was “trained AND licensed” to carry that firearm. We would not want any old person just carrying for the hell of it without proper licensing or anything, huh?
Texas, that did not take long. And I am sure this is only the beginning. Yeehaw.
4And teenage males are noted for their calm temper and self-control, especially in groups and when drunk. And they never try to show off to each other either.
5And there’s the UT Austin incident. Frat house on last Saturday night/Sunday morning after a home game. Some other guys show up to party hearty, already drunk which in a UT frat house is no big deal, but are disruptive and asked to leave. They badmouth the security guy, stomp off threatening to come back with guns, and an hour later they DO come back with guns (or one of them does) and shoot the security guard in the foot.
Shooter dude was not a student, just an 18 year old living in apartment surrounded by students.
6Right on, Lunargent. Those parents should be yanking their kids out of there ASAP. Not just the ones in that dorm, but all over that gun-toting campus.
7Easy for you to say; I assume you don’t have college age kids in Texas. ALL public universities were forced to permit guns on campus, as much as they protested against it. I have a child at U-T, a senior. Not going to make her transfer to an out of state or private school at this point. Unfortunately, we are all just as likely to be shot by a bozo at Home Depot or Denny’s, since this is Texas, after all. And no, we don’t deserve what we get. None of my family voted for any of these idiot lawmakers.
8JJ, you have some great friends who send you some of the best statistics and such. (*Thanks Alfredo.) Could you ask one of them to keep a tally of these “accidents” for us. It might be interesting to see the data in a year, compared to other years, so Texans can see how “safe” the Lege has made college students. Just a suggestion.
9I could if I wished (to get divorced) carry a firearm. But, in my life’s experience, I have never been in a situation where it might be warranted.
Did I manage to be born with a magical cloak of defence that most mortals don’t have? Or are the people that feel the need to carry just menace magnets?
I get that guns are fun, sometimes, but then so are dildos (and are about as meaningful to real life).
10Jill Ann, my sympathies and best hopes for your daughter’s safety. And no, we don’t always deserve what we get. Voting is where we all get what the majority of voters deserve– or, as in 2000, what the majority of the Supreme Court deserved.
11Most of this surprises me not in the least.
In the early 70s I attended one of these smaller state Universities. I looked at Tarleton, but went elsewhere, but some of my younger relatives have earned degrees from Tarleton in the meanwhile.
Two acquaintances, both student employees were killed in 1974-1975 time range due to carrying illegally, cheaply made small caliber handguns and involving themselves in unintentional discharges. In both cases illegal alcohol consumption was a contributing factor.
Fast forward to 2016. Teens such as these, who have armed themselves in their neighborhoods will continue to arm themselves to protect themselves from whatever of their enemies they see. Now the Texas Lege has thrown into the mix a different student, those who are willing to be licensed for concealed carry and who likely will arm themselves with a “cooler” more expensive, larger caliber handgun.
These two groups do not normally socialize, that is drink alcohol or dance or consume recreational substances, together but they will be in close proximity to each other in dorms and cafeterias, and it is logical that in these locales, friction may occur. I just hope the friction doesnt go beyond a food fight, but I expect that it will.
12Didn’t I read that Houston’s zoo had an 18 year old lion that just croaked, so there is that if you want to be safe with pork chops in your pockets.
13They never learn. Never.
14Hey! Guns on campus? What could go wrong at a frat house with a bunch of drunk kids and guns?
Is this the Texas answer on how to weed out the idiots so they don’t breed?
(Not picking on Texas, but it’s the only state I’m aware of that allows guns on campus. And I think there were at least a couple of professors/instructors who resigned when this was made law there.)
15Missouri’s got you Texans beat for stupidity on guns, I’m afraid. Their Leg just passed a law, overriding a veto by the guv, allowing anyone to buy a gun with no permit, no background check and no training required. I see it as evolution in action.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/16/opinion/missouri-the-shoot-me-state.html?_r=0
16And Trump wants Hillary’s Secret Service detail to disarm!
17Misery has got a leg up in the “Chuck D” (Charles Darwin) sweepstakes race to find the cure for wingnut stoopidity.
18If enrollment in Texas and Missouri colleges and universities suddenly drops, the financial consequences might wake up these moronic legislators. That seems to be the only fact they listen to. No one deserves to have their children put in harm’s way.
19If we stopped “accidental discharges” there would be much fewer gun nuts.
20I see Missouri’s Lege also stripped local police of their ability to deny guns to anyone convicted of domestic violence, so expect the death rate for Missouri women and children to go up. I bet these jackwagons consider themselves “pro-life.”
21Guns must be the dirtiest things on earth, because the ammosexuals are always cleaning them when they “accidentally” discharge.
22Broomhilda, sadly, “Is this the Texas answer on how to weed out the idiots so they don’t breed? ” the gun shooters survive and they kill off the ones who SHOULD prevail.
23maggie: Seriously? Does Trump think he can run the Secret Service (his or anyone else’s?)
24The only thing Scumpf can run is his own mouth. It never stops.
25And his brain never starts.
26My daughter, in 11th grade, is hoping to travel far from Maryland for college (California is her dream location.) This summer she took a month long class with Univ of Dallas in Italy. U of D has a campus near Rome and she loved it. But, she has removed Texas public colleges/universities from her list of colleges for this very reason.
27Suggestion for getting a college degree without being in any way coerced into getting a gun as part of student equipment:
281. Find cave
2. Find cave with WiFi
3. Sign up for college courses via internet – U/Maryland has a bunch of them. So does Southern N.H. University.
4. When college campuses start to look like ghost towns, maybe, just maybe someone might get the idea to reverse the gun thing.