University of Texas Plays Irrelevant “Race Card” in Concealed Carry on Campus Debate

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Austin, TX -(AmmoLand.com)- After watching Monday’s campus carry forum at the University of Texas, I thought I’d heard every asinine argument against allowing the licensed concealed carry of handguns on Texas college campuses; then I woke up Tuesday to an editorial from a UT student claiming, “Campus Carry Fuels White Privilege [and the] Criminalization of Black People.”

UT-Austin’s second campus carry forum included some startlingly inaccurate statements from opponents of the law. At one point, an assistant history professor told the audience, “The presence of concealed handguns on college campuses does increase the rate of rape,” despite the fact that there is no record of an armed CHL holder ever being involved in a sexual assault on any of the 150+ college campuses where campus carry is currently allowed.

At another point, a staff member claimed, “Violent crimes for CHL holders, among Texans, are 4.8 times more likely than those who do not hold licenses,” despite the fact that Texas Department of Public Safety statistics show the exact opposite — a Texas CHL holder is only about 1/5 as likely to be convicted of a violent crime. This circus of misrepresented facts and outright falsehoods led me to believe that opponents of the individual right to self-defense had stooped as low as they possibly could, until I read Loyce Gayo’s October 6 op-ed in The Daily Texan.

Gayo, an African and African Diaspora Studies senior from Houston, argues that, because police may respond differently to a black man carrying a gun than to a white man carrying a gun, allowing the licensed concealed carry of handguns on Texas colleges is….Okay, honestly, I’ve read the article four times, and I’m still not 100% sure what Gayo is trying to argue. After opening with the assertion that police officers treat white gun owners differently than black gun owners, Gayo touches on the racist roots of gun control in America — something I have talked about for years as a black gun owner (https://is.gd/j300Xn) — and then concludes, “It is crucial to consider how the aftermath of this legislation can potentially perpetuate the criminalization of Black students. Campus carry does not consider the safety of students of color. Based on the historical precedent of Black people framed as dangerous, the new gun policy will endanger Black students who choose to exercise their new rights.”

What Gayo and the Daily Texan Editor fail to realize about the new Campus Carry law is that the law only applies to concealed handguns, as in concealed from plain view. While there have been studies that suggest that blacks and whites are profiled differently by police when the police can visually see that a gun is present, the police will not specifically consider anyone with a Concealed Handgun License to be dangerous, unless the gun is openly carried, as the law states, “in a manner calculated to cause alarm.”

On the contrary, police are often relieved  to have an encounter with a CHL holder, because a CHL holder demonstrates a willingness to be a law-abiding citizen and a responsible gun owner, and is statistically less likely to commit a crime than a law enforcement officer. How can a police officer consider a black man with a concealed handgun to be any more dangerous than a white man with a concealed handgun? It is impossible to profile someone on the basis of having a concealed handgun, because the gun is invisible! I am not suggesting that an officer cannot profile based on race alone, but you cannot consider a black man with an invisible gun to be more dangerous than a white man with an invisible gun unless you truly believe that blacks are intrinsically more dangerous than whites. When a gun is concealed, profiling has nothing to do with the presence of a gun on the person.

Perhaps I’m wrong, but I think Gayo is actually suggesting that racist police officers make it too dangerous for black students to exercise their right to self-defense and that the answer to this problem, rather than reforming our police departments or educating the public, is to make sure everybody is completely reliant on those same racist cops for protection. I, however, have a better solution: If this is the quality of student being turned out by our state’s flagship university, the best end to the campus carry debate is to shut down our state colleges altogether. It is clear that neither Gayo nor the Daily Texan editor did any research on the law that was passed before releasing a  fear-mongering race-baiting article clearly designed to pull a race issue into a topic where race is irrelevant. Is this the future of journalism? Is this the kind of shoddy work the University of Texas rewards with a degree?

If ‘campus carry equals white privilege’ is the best Texas’s institutions of higher education have to offer, it’s clear to me that these supposed havens of free expression and intellectual discourse are nothing more than elaborate scams designed to brainwash students, parents, and taxpayers toward a political agenda.

About Central Texas Gun Works:

Central Texas Gun Works is a local Austin training school and retailer of firearms, ammunition, and safety accessories. In addition to holding regular Texas concealed handgun license (CHL) classes, Central Texas Gun Works is also a licensed training school for Texas Private Security Bureau (PSB) Level II, Level III, and Level IV private security classes. Michael Cargill, owner of Central Texas Gun Works, has served as a Texas DPS-certified CHL instructor for ten years and has over 20 years of firearms experience. He is also an NRA-certified Pistol Instructor, Chief Range Safety Officer, and Personal Protection Inside the Home Instructor. In addition, he is a Texas DPS-licensed PSB Instructor for Level II and Level III private security classes. As of 2015, Michael has taught over 10,000 applicants the required material to obtain a Texas CHL, and has a 99% success rate.

For more information visit www.centraltexasgunworks.com.

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student

It is important to note this is the opinion of a STUDENT at UT Austin. The headline is extremely misleading; UT Austin is not playing the so-called “race-card,” a specific student who writes for The Daily Texan–which is technically independent from the University–wrote the article. Disappointed in the misleading headline.

Janek

No matter what the issue is, the ‘Race Card’ always trumps the facts.

diamondearthday57

Tim is right. And the reason black folks with guns are treated different is because we wake up EVERYDAY and see where a black has killed another. Everyday in every city in America. If the shoe fits…..

Benny

It seems that the majority of professors are liberal leaning and anti-gun and they are the ones teaching our young adults. Here in CA it is especially bad.

hippybiker

The last paragraph in the article states clearly what most colleges have become. That would be propaganda machines for the liberal snobs.

durabo

Longhorns, do what is constitutionally-guaranteed, and carry very discreetly. After TSHTF, at least you may be tried by twelve mostly sympathetic jurors, rather than be carried by six pallbearers. And don’t forget the concept of jury nullification.

Gregory Romeu

“After TSHTF, at least you may be tried by twelve mostly sympathetic jurors, rather than be carried by six pallbearers. And don’t forget the concept of jury nullification.”

AFTER, SHTF? NONE of these options will be available for quite a LONG time!

Tim

It’s legit for this kid to fear that his fellow black students will be harmed by this new privilege. It shouldn’t be at the forefront of the discussion, but he’s right to worry that this will be a dangerous dynamic to add to a world where so many double standards exist. If you don’t think that cops and civilians will treat black students with permits differently, you’re nuts!

Rube Goldburg

So because “muh Racist Cops”, we shouldn’t have rights? That logic doesn’t make any sense whatsoever.

Mark Devine

What?!? You expect sense from LIbErals?

Brian

How would someone know if the another person is a permit holder. If its concealed you don’t know.

Big Bill

Tim: The article is about concealed carry. Do you have any idea of how many people around you have concealed carry permits? The answer is no, because no one is required to make public that they have a permit. A connected question: Do you know how many people around you are carrying a concealed firearm? Again, the answer is no, because they are concealed. Do you know how many of those who are carrying concealed have permits to do so? Again, no. Why are you more afraid of those who have PERMITS than those who don’t? It would seem to… Read more »

Elder Ambassador

OK, easy answer is that ONLY white students can carry. Therefore, no blacks are endangered. Problem solved!