Open Carry Law: Bad or Good?

“For black Americans, we know that gun control... sprouts from racist soil - be it after the
or during the infamous Dred Scott case where black man's humanity was not recognized.” (Niger
Innis)
A shooter walks into your classroom on a normal day. When the open carry law wasn’t
passed the students were sitting ducks, they had nowhere to go nowhere to hide. They had safety
precautions sure, but how helpful were they. Now that the open carry law is passed the students
could be armed and ready to end the situation quickly. Now that all students twenty-one and
older can pull out their gun and shoot any other students at any time, so is the open carry law
good or bad on college campuses?
On August First, Twenty Seventeen, Governor Greg Abbott signed House Bill
910 into law which allows students twenty-one or older to carry their handguns into their college
campuses as long as they have their concealed handgun license. The previously signed HB 195
stated that handguns could not be carried onto college campuses was revised and HB 910 was
added.
Guns on campus started farther back than the thought of these bills. August First,
Nineteen Ninety-Six, Charles Whitman an ex-marine and an engineer student at the University of
Texas shot students and professors from the clock tower. It was considered one of the deadliest
mass shootings in American History. He shot forty-nine people and out of those forty-nine,
sixteen were fatalities.
On October Ninth, Twenty Seventeen, Hollis Daniels was the suspect of a shooting at
Texas Tech he shot one cop which turned out to be a fatality. He was an underage student. He
could not legally carry a handgun on the campus but got away with it anyway. In House Bill 195
Subchapter H, Chapter 411 of the Texas Government code states that “an eligible individual
must be 21 years of age with certain exceptions”. Supporters of House Bill 910 say that gun
owners are defending themselves and possibly saving other students valuable lives. This was one
of those instances where fear is instilled in the students and professors. Is it self-defense or just
plain brutality?
Article sixteen is the longest article of the Texas constitution. This article tackles a
variety of issues from gun control to elections of state associations. In chapter 411it states the
gun control standing with the house bill 910 and 195. House bill 910 being a “provision” of the
House Bill 195. These bills were added between 2015-2016. These bills have one of the biggest
impacts of our state and country.
My opinion on the gun control situation is I can agree to disagree. I can agree on
the fact that they can protect us in bad situations. They can protect our loved ones and our fellow
students but, they also can be very dangerous. I can disagree on the fact that unstable people
carry handguns. Texas is one of the eight states that has the open carry on college campuses law.
As and African American female it is hard to know that my fellow students can carry handguns
and my fellow African Americans are getting shot in the street.