In case it’s news to anyone, the University of Texas at Austin will allow concealed carry of guns by licensed owners next year. I won’t go into the pros and cons, the intractability of opposing views on the matter or the sense of wonder at how a political party espousing limited government could force this legislation through against the apparent will of the majority, but I am somewhat bewildered by terms of the law. Apparently the university cannot prohibit concealed weapons in classrooms but can enact reasonable restrictions. The question then becomes, who gets to define ‘reasonable’?
You might think that as experts in the campus learning environment, the dynamics of meaningful instruction, and the importance of free exploration and exchange of ideas, faculty on campus have special awareness of how guns in classrooms might impact the student and teacher experience. Gathering their input and attending to it would seem more reasonable than not. You likely will not be surprised to learn that the majority of faculty do not want guns in their classrooms, and their qualms about this might be based on experience of what it takes to provide a successful learning experience, as well as their personal safety concerns. Both positions seem to me to be reasonable. Interestingly, their position seems align with the positions of other experts on the role of guns on a campus, such as those of the university police, and our own very experienced-in-matters of combat, Chancellor. In this light, restricting the carrying of guns in classroom settings would seem reasonable. One might extend this further to restrict guns where conflict and disagreement are common (certain dealings with advisors, deans, faculty offices when students receive low grades) etc. but for now, let’s just stick with classrooms, after all, the advisor or faculty member would be free to pack their own gun for one-on-one defense there if necessary (yes, we’re still trying to stay ‘reasonable’ here).
Unfortunately, it seems even a common-sense approach to ‘reasonable’ restrictions is being denied to us all. Either through fear of legislative retribution, or fear of hot-headed types with guns coming to make their point, we are strolling down the road to armed students in a university that claims to be world-class. In what world is this conceivably ‘reasonable’?