Historians study changes in society and human behavior over time, including changes in the law and justifications for those changes. Thus, we, the undersigned faculty members of the Department of History at UT-Austin, feel it is important for us to comment on the implementation of the law allowing Concealed Handgun License holders to bring guns into our classrooms, offices, dormitories and other buildings. In our view, there is no reasonable justification for permitting concealed guns to be taken into campus buildings. Studies that link the drop in crime rates to the rise of gun ownership have been shown to be deeply flawed and to prove that the presence of guns do not make us safer. Our colleagues at Texas A&M have convincingly shown that CHLs have no impact on crime rates. Gun advocates argue that we should trust responsible gun owners to handle their guns safely in our classrooms, but they ignore the fact that the possible presence of guns will undermine our ability to teach. Students and faculty alike have told us that they will not be comfortable discussing controversial subjects if they think there might be a gun in the room. The Texas Legislature has imposed this law on our university community against the majority’s very explicit opposition to it. For all these reasons, we strenuously object to this law and to the presence of concealed guns in campus buildings.
- Robert Abzug, Professor
- Daina Berry, Associate Professor
- Miriam Bodian, Professor
- Benjamin Brower, Associate Professor
- Jonathan Brown, Professor
- Erika Bsumek, Associate Professor
- Matthew Butler, Associate Professor
- Jorge Canizares, Professor
- Ruramisai Charumbira, Assistant Professor
- Indrani Chatterjee, Professor
- Judith Coffin, Associate Professor
- Susan Deans-Smith, Associate Professor
- Lina del Castillo, Assistant Professor
- Toyin Falola, Professor
- George Forgie, Associate Professor
- Seth Garfield, Professor
- Virginia Garrard Burnett, Professor
- Laurie Green, Associate Professor
- Sumit Guha, Professor
- Julia Hardwick, Professor
- Madeline Y. Hsu, Associate Professor
- Bruce Hunt, Associate Professor
- Jacqueline Jones, Professor and Chair
- Mark Lawrence, Associate Professor
- Brian Levack, Professor
- Philippa Levine, Professor
- Tatjana Lichtenstein, Assistant Professor
- Gail Minault, Professor Emeritus
- Tracie Matysik, Associate Professor
- Joan Neuberger, Professor
- Robert Olwell, Associate Professor
- Abena Dove Osseo-Asare, Assistant Professor
- Megan Raby, Assistant Professor
- Penne Restad, Lecturer, History
- Megan Seaholm, Senior Lecturer
- Michael Stoff, Associate Professor, Chair Plan II
- AnnTwinam, Professor
- James Vaughn, Assistant Prof
- AndrewVillalon, Senior Lecturer
- SamVong, Assistant Professor
- Juliet E. K. Walker, Professor
- Charters Wynn, Associate Professor
- Emilio Zamora, Professor