Photo by Andrew Hyde, via flickr
Adrianne Richardson/Contributing Writer
“Guns don’t kill people, people kill people.”
This slogan, commonly attributed to the National Rifle Association (NRA), is one of the most renowned when it comes to defending the Second Amendment right to possess a gun.
Photo by Andrew Hyde, via flickr
In Texas, the state Senate has taken the defending of gun possession to a whole new level by bringing the Second Amendment to college campuses, in turn allowing students to exercise their right as well.
Apparently, Texas believes that there is a reason for college students to have the need of a gun on campus, having passed the SB 1907 law that allows college students to keep a gun in their car.
According to Red Alert Politics, students with a license to carry a concealed weapon will be allowed to have their gun in the car; this keeps colleges from being able to oppose this Amendment because it is in the students’ cars and not in a public building on campus.
Personally, I do believe that people kill people, but if a gun is in the hands of an individual who has a license to possess it when their mind has bad intentions, it can lead to destruction and chaos.
Not all college students are mature enough to hold a weapon, licensed or not, and in FIU’s campus, having a gun in your car would be the worst place to have it!
Why?
Simply because parking is chaos and finding a parking space is like finding a dime in a fountain full of pennies, or winning the lotto in Florida- one in a million, maybe more. So, if I am driving and looking for a parking space and someone else sees the same parking space, but they have the temper of a wildebeest and owns a gun, chances are I am in danger.
Believe it or not, parking is really that serious to some people; someone will shoot you for a parking space.
Having a gun in the car is just as bad as having it in a public campus building. Someone can easily wait for their target to come into the parking lot before taking a shot and robbing people will become easier because of the possession of a gun.
There is enough crime on college campuses, why add a gun to the mix? That’s really stupid.
If we allow guns in student vehicles, then people will want their guns in the dorm room, undoubtedly with a promise to keep it in their dressers.
I really believe that about 55 percent of students who carry a gun do not have bad intentions; some may really need their gun for protection against college parking lot monsters. It is the other 45 percent that concerns me and should concern you as students of FIU as well as those in government.
“It is their own personal vehicle, their own personal firearm,” said State Senator Glenn Hegar, and author of the bill, to The Houston Chronicle. “It is locked out of sight, out of mind; no one knows it’s there and it’s their Second Amendment right.”
Just because the gun is locked out of sight does not mean it is locked out of the mind, but nobody is a mind reader. Let’s not gamble with the notion that everyone has these intentions.
I believe that there is a reason for everything and the Texas Legislature passed the SB1907 law so that I can write about it and tell you, the reader, to be more aware of your surroundings, especially in the parking lot. If you see a parking space someone else may want and there are no police around, let them have it before they let you really “have it.”
Safety is the key here and I care, somewhat.
Thank me later.
opinion@fiusm.com
Sources:
1. “Bill: SB 1907,” via Texas Legislature Online
2. “Texas state legislature moves toward allowing concealed carry on college campuses,” via Red Alert Politics
3. “Houston senator declares guns-on-campus bill dead,” via The Houston Chronicle