Texas gun law endangers students

editorial cartoon by Jacob Bogdanoff
editorial cartoon by Jacob Bogdanoff

The University of La Verne is a small campus with not much going on in regards to protests and school-wide political activism, but at the University of Texas at Austin, students are planning a provocative protest against a new gun law signed by Gov. Greg Abbott June 1.

The “campus carry” law, which will go into effect Aug. 1, 2016, allows licensed gun owners over the age of 21 to carry a concealed handgun on Texas college campuses.

This ridiculous law has thousands of students and campus faculty scared and angry. The law also goes into effect on the 50th anniversary of the Charles Whitman shooting at UT Austin that killed 16 people.

Especially in the recent wake of campus shootings, students are hyperaware of these situations and are on edge. There have been more than 20 college shootings this year, and students and professors worry that “campus carry” will cause a chilling effect on free speech for fear of being shot by someone in class during a debate or disagreement.

With the passing of the new law, Texas colleges are not lifting prior bans on other objects such as toasters, candles, water guns and Nerf guns. It is silly that these schools are allowing students to bring firearms to campus, but still have a ban on items that are not nearly as dangerous. Schools seem to be more concerned about items that are considered fire hazards than a possible school shooting.

In objection to the new law, Jessica Jin, a student at UT Austin, has begun to orchestrate a massive protest called Campus (DILDO) Carry where students will strap “gigantic swinging dildos to backpacks in protest of campus carry,” according to the Facebook event page.

The protest at UT Austin is also a commentary on sexual expression censorship, an important detail that should not be overlooked. It would be easy to pass off the dildos strapped to backpacks as just a simple shock factor, but it is so much more than that. Throughout these campuses, anything seen as obscene is a Class C misdemeanor punishable by up to a $500 fine. This stirs up the question, what is obscene and who determines whether something is or is not?

We are too accepting of violence and incredibly uncomfortable when it comes to sexuality. The United States government heavily censors sexuality and not violence, but across the world it is the opposite. In Europe especially, violence is censored and sex is embraced.

Jin admits on the Facebook event page that strapping the dildos is “just about as effective at protecting us from sociopathic shooters, but much safer for recreational play,” but it certainly does get the point across. These Texas students want #CocksNotGlocks.

So, come Aug. 24, 2016, will you strap a dildo to your backpack in solidarity with our Texan friends?

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Unsigned editorials represent the opinion of the Campus Times Editorial Board.

Jacob Bogdanoff

2 COMMENTS

  1. This is one of the craziest laws ever passed, students should not be allowed to carry guns in schools ever. We all know when students even old one carry guns in schools.

Comments are closed.

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