Category Archives: campus carry toolkit

Sample Talking Points

This series was originally published in Huffington Post as an article titled  How To Get Guns Off Campuses: A Call To Action!

We will be publishing this series over the next few days. This is Part 5 and the final part.

Sample Talking Points Against Campus Carry, Against Pro-Campus-Carry-Related Legislation, and in Favor of Opt Out.

(Originally published by Aron Weinberg as an Appendix to Huffington Post Article How to Get Guns Off Campuses: A Call to Action)

  • History. The framers of The Bill of Rights never intended for the 2nd Amendment to be practiced on campuses. When James Madison and Thomas Jefferson founded the University of Virginia, they forbid firearms on campus.

Continue reading Sample Talking Points

A Primer on Campus Carry

This series was originally published in Huffington Post as an article titled  How To Get Guns Off Campuses: A Call To Action!

We will be publishing this series over the next few days. This is Part 4.

The below primer, which can also serve as a general resource, provides an overview of facts, figures, and arguments against campus carry from which talking points could be formulated:

  • History. The framers of The Bill of Rights never intended for the 2nd Amendment (1791) to apply to campuses. When Thomas Jefferson and James Madison founded the University of Virginia, they forbid student from carrying firearms on campus. In fact, the fundamental individual right to bear arms under the 2nd Amendment was only established federally in 2008 (DC vs. Heller). The ruling recognized “Like most rights, the 2nd Amendment is not unlimited,” failing to assert this fundamental right in “sensitive places, such as schools and government buildings.” Although Texas is only required to follow statutory minimums established by the U.S. Supreme Court, neither DC vs. Heller nor any other U.S. Supreme Court ruling has ever asserted this fundamental right in public, let alone on campuses and in classrooms.
  • Pro-campus-carry argument. Somewhat ironically, the main public proponents of this legislation, Students for Concealed Carry, don’t argue for campus carry under the 2nd Amendment. Aside from practical reasons for supporting the law, at least currently on their website SCC’s epistemology is based on the idea that “self-defense is a human right.” Some may question, however, whether the exercise of this human right in university classrooms should necessarily includes handguns.

Continue reading A Primer on Campus Carry

How To Get Guns Off Campuses: A Call To Action!

This series was originally published in Huffington Post as an article titled  How To Get Guns Off Campuses: A Call To Action!

We will be publishing this series over the next few days.

Overview

A Brief History of Guns on Campuses and Campus Carry in Texas
A Call to Action
A Primer on Campus Carry
Sample Talking Points

Conclusion
The 2nd Amendment and campus carry can be touchy subjects. Try to be respectful of the viewpoints of other people and groups, such as those of Students for Concealed Carry, even if you don’t agree with them.

Don’t forget to vote this November 8th!

It is our hope that this series can serve as a starting point for a collaborative effort against campus carry in Texas. We hope to see you along the way! Continue reading How To Get Guns Off Campuses: A Call To Action!

Syllabus and oral notification of Campus Carry policy

Banning guns from offices: 

Faculty and staff with single occupant offices, can ban concealed carry in their office, but only by oral notification. This can be done by an announcement on the first day of class. Some, at the suggestion of the University, will have students signs a statement indicating they have received this oral notification.

Acknowledgement of Oral Notice Prohibiting Concealed Handguns

From the Campus Carry FAQs for Faculty:

You may orally notify students in your class or learning environment in a variety of ways. For example, you can make an announcement on the first day of class. If any students are not present for that class, or if you have students who join the class later, you must provide the same notice to them.

Given the movement of students in and out of classes during the first few weeks, you may wish to have your students sign a statement that acknowledges that they have received oral notification of your desire to ban guns in your office.

Classrooms:

Continue reading Syllabus and oral notification of Campus Carry policy

Alternative Locations for GUN FREE OFFICE HOURS

Download printable:   Alternative Gun Free Office Hours Locations
Updated 8-16-16

Need to prohibit guns during your office hours but cannot due to shared spaces or lack of autonomy? Let’s hold our office hours where we feel the most safe and out of protest for the absence of campus democracy in declaring our own gun-free areas. And let’s keep the critical conversation going with our students about this issue – our silence is their gun addled victory.

Please distribute widely, especially to incoming and international grad students.

The following are options on or just near campus where guns are completely prohibited. In all cases, the establishment has expressed a solidarity with grad students at UT who are now unable to control their work places, especially where they interact with students. You department or supervisor may have specific guidelines about where you are allowed to have office hours. Be sure to confirm this before printing your syllabi. Continue reading Alternative Locations for GUN FREE OFFICE HOURS