Proposed gun bill harmful to campus safety

By Staff Editorial     4/16/09 7:00pm

Houston has had its fair share of gun violence over the years, but Rice, a hedge-lined bubble, has provided students an aura of safety for years on end. But this doesn't just come from the lack of law-breaking denizens calling Rice home. Much of the safety we've come to take for granted stems from the university's desire to check concealed weapons at the door, disallowing unseen weaponry from entering the campus.But if the Texas legislature decides to pass HB 1893, a bill that would allow concealed weapons on campus, all that may change (see story, page 1), and change for the worse.

Aristotle said, "We make war that we may live in peace." This backwards logic seems to be at play here, coming home to roost in this bill's passage. A small percentage of the Rice population holds concealed handgun licenses, it is true - but it does not matter how minuscule the amount of weaponry there will be on campus. Those few will be safer, perhaps, but the university as a whole will suffer.

We acknowledge that, in order to earn a CHL, you must first pass an examination, and we understand that the vast majority of those with CHL's are healthy, law-abiding citizens who simply wish to have some added safety. But there is no test for the person's roommate, and should the owner of the CHL absentmindedly leave the handgun lying around the room, there is little to stop the roommate from doing as he or she pleases.

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It seems as if Texas legislature isn't aware that Rice is a wet campus, rife with alcohol and young, testosterone-laced minds. Parties abound on campus, and since much of Rice is under 21 these drunken nights take place in private residences, out of sight of police officers and, sometimes, in plain view of the handgun. The benefit of allowing these guns onto campus is infinitesimal - a few students are "protected" while the rest of us walk around, wary of everyone who seems threatening in any form.

But it's not just us who oppose this bill. The Rice University Police Department has put its foot down, and for good reason. Right now, guns on campus denote the "bad guy," as it were, because since no members of the Rice community are allowed guns on campus, the only ones who would wield weaponry are outsiders.

However, we should add that, were the coming zombie apocalypse abundantly apparent, we would fully support this bill. Until that comes, though, we will remain opposed to this bill's passage.

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