Campus carry in Texas had another setback as another private university opted out of the new law to prevent harm to its “reputation.”
Citing overwhelming opposition among students, faculty, and staff, Rice University President David W. Leebron announced the university’s intention to maintain a gun-free campus, according to Houston Press.
The campus carry law, set to take effect in Texas in August, allows conceal-and-carry permit holders to bring a gun on public university campuses, but gave private colleges the option of opting out. So far, Texas Christian University has opted out and maintained a gun-free campus, along with Baylor University and Southern Methodist University. Trinity University and Paul Quinn College have announced their intention to opt out as well, but the policy is not yet official.
In his letter announcing Rice’s opposition, Leebron claimed that allowing guns on campus “would make the campus less safe and harm our national and international reputation.”
Police and security personnel can have weapons on campus, yet Rice University’s reputation has not suffered as a result. Nor has much been said about public universities in eight other states that allow campus carry. Fraternities engaging in shootouts on the campus green, for instance, haven’t happened.
“There is no evidence that allowing the carrying of guns on our campus will make the campus safer,” Leebron continued, “and the most knowledgeable professional groups believe that guns will make campuses less safe.”
Though Leebron holds a popular belief that gun-free zones keep campuses less safe, crime data doesn’t show gun owners to be so dangerous. In Texas, gun owners who had a concealed handgun license had a criminal conviction rate of .31 percent in 2013 for any crime. On average, Texans who conceal-and-carry are exceedingly law abiding, especially when compared to the general population.
Mass shootings being stopped by civilians aren’t that common, and campus carry isn’t necessarily a strong policy to keep campuses safe. However, implying that Texans participating in campus carry could be a threat to student safety doesn’t have much support beyond paranoia.
