Jon's Blog

Guns in school

I had lunch the other day with several co-workers at a state university. During our conversation, one of the ladies shared with us the reason that she had quit her job at the university several years ago, and had just recently returned. Several years ago, she was physically assaulted by a male co-worker, who forced her into a remote office, locked her inside, and made it clear that his intention was to commit a sexual crime against her. But for the timely intervention of another employee who just happened to hear her screams, she would most likely have been raped and seriously injured, if not murdered, by the criminal co-worker. She resigned from the university immediately following the incident.

I have worked with this woman for several years, and this was new information to me. I thought about what it must have been like for her, caught in that helpless situation. I realized that the reason she resigned was because she knew that the same thing could happen again. What if that other employee had not happened by? Even had she been able to dial 911, the campus police would not have been able to respond in time. She had only her own strength and wit to save her, but she was no match for the criminal’s strength, and he was not interested in her wit.

I thought about what she could have done to decrease her helplessness. She needed something that could even the odds, something that would strike fear into the heart of a determined criminal. Truth be told, she needed a gun—but, as a "law-abiding" citizen, she couldn’t have one. Texas state law would have prosecuted her for using the only means of defense that would have tipped the scales in her favor, and she knew it. That same Texas state law, unfortunately, affects every employee of every educational institution in the state.

Because I work at this university, my personal safety is jeapordized every day—and the State of Texas does nothing to help me. Because the Legislature prohibits firearms in educational institutions but does not physically control the entrances to those institutions, any armed criminal can walk into any building at any time and have free reign over the occupants of the building. When that happens, the myth of the “gun-free school” is exposed, and the only rational action—for the survivors—is to resign and seek employment in the private sector, where they can protect themselves against violent criminals without fear of prosecution under unconstitutional state laws.

I understand the irreplacable utility of a firearm for self-defense, and I recognize that the U.S. Constitution reserves my right to keep and bear arms. In an effort to assist the Texas Legislature in properly exercising the power granted them by the Texas Constitution "to regulate the wearing of arms, with a view to prevent crime," I have demonstrated to the State of Texas that I am in fact "well regulated" in my ability to use a firearm, by fulfilling the state’s requirements to obtain a Concealed Handgun License. Ignoring, for the moment, the Constitutional irrelevance of their opinion on the matter, the Texas Legislature says that I may legally carry a concealed handgun virtually anywhere in the state of Texas—even in the State Capitol building—but for some reason they have drawn the line at the doorway of any educational institution. Am I suddenly a threat when I enter my workplace, because it happens to be a school? Surely not!

Consider the following accounts from recent years:

• May, 1998: Alarmed at the sound of gunfire in the halls of his Pearl, Mississippi, high school, Assistant Principal Joel Myrick ran to his car to retrieve a pistol. The shooter was an armed student who marched through the school firing on his fellow classmates and teachers. With the help of another student,. Myrick caught up with the armed student and held him for police. Pearl schools Superintendent Bill Dodson said of Myrick, "We think he's a hero for keeping more lives from being lost. The young man with the gun still had rounds in the rifle and could have injured other people." But what if Mr. Myrick hadn’t had to run to his car to retrieve a pistol? What if he had been able to produce his weapon immediately? He might have saved lives instead of just stopping the fleeing criminal.
  
• January, 2002: When Peter Odighizuwa opened fire at the Appalachian School of Law in Virginia, killing three people, students Mikael Gross and Tracy Bridges armed themselves with handguns and stopped the criminal before he could shoot anyone else. What if those young men hadn’t been there? Who would have stopped the armed criminal before he fired every bullet in the gun, killing even more people?
  

Also consider these nationwide statistics:

• Between 1977 and 1995, fifteen shootings took place in schools in states without right-to-carry concealed handgun laws, and only one took place in a state that had such a law. From these crimes, the states without right-to-carry laws suffered 19 deaths and 97 injuries, while right-to-carry states saw only one death and two injuries.
  
• The five school shootings that occurred during the 1997-1998 school year took place after the enactment of the 1995 Gun-Free School Zones law, which banned guns (including lawfully-possessed concealed handguns) within 1000 feet of a school.
  
• Deaths and injuries from mass public shootings, like Jonesboro AR and Littleton CO, fall dramatically after right-to-carry concealed handgun laws are enacted. Between 1977 and 1995, the average death rate from mass shootings plummeted by up to 91% after such laws went into effect, and injuries dropped by over 80%.
  

According to the Center for Public Policy Priorities, "...school violence can happen anywhere and students, parents, and teachers alike are expressing heightened fear of becoming victims of violence at school...Texas teachers report that they fear for their safety...students, teachers, and parents alike have more fear and concern about safety in schools." The intent of the "Gun-Free School Zones" law, and any law that prohibits firearms on a school campus, is to reduce gun-related crimes in schools. Statistics, though, show that the impact of such laws is exactly the reverse; that, in fact, prohibiting lawful concealed carry on school campuses contributes to a net increase in violent crime there.

Obviously, the current state of affairs is not effectively supporting the federal "Safe and Drug Free Schools" effort, nor does it fulfill the Texas Constitution’s requirement on the Legislature to have a "view to prevent crime," nor especially does it conform to the U.S. Constitution’s directive that “the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” It behooves the Legislature of the State of Texas, in the interests of public safety and adherence to fundamental human rights, to remove the ban on lawful carry of firearms on the premises of educational institutions. That would be the single most effective way to protect our children and educators.

Posted by jon at July 8, 2003 09:20 AM