This memorandum from the Campaign to Keep Guns Off Campus describes why banning guns from classrooms should be permissible under the Texas “campus carry” law SB 11. It also provides a legal basis for including faculty governing bodies such as the UT Faculty Council in all deliberations. Use of a special task force is not a substitute for the normal university governance procedures because implementation of the law should be considered an academic matter.
Campus Carry Resolution from Faculty Council
Amended and Endorsed by the Faculty Council
November 16, 2015
The Mission of The University of Texas at Austin is to achieve excellence in “undergraduate education, graduate education, research and public service [and to] contribute to the advancement of society through research, creative activity, scholarly inquiry and the development of new knowledge.” The Faculty Council asserts that the University cannot fulfill this mission if guns are allowed in educational facilities. We believe that by creating an uneasy and potentially hostile environment for intellectual inquiry, guns in educational spaces impede learning, honest evaluation, and academic freedom. Guns in campus buildings also jeopardize the quality and reputation of the University by hurting recruitment and retention of faculty, staff, and students. Therefore, the Faculty Council strongly opposes allowing guns in The University of Texas at Austin classrooms, laboratories, residence halls, university offices, and other spaces of education.
General Faculty and Faculty Council
Department of Art and Art History Statement on Campus Carry
We, the faculty, staff, and graduate students in the Department of Art and Art History in the College of Fine Arts, strongly oppose the presence of guns in classrooms, laboratories, offices, and social spaces on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin.
Many departments can argue for exclusion from Campus Carry SB11 (and we teach in small groups and in large lecture halls, in darkened rooms and laboratories), but as concerned as we are for our own safety and that of our students, we are more concerned about how this law undermines the very basis of what we teach. As professionals engaged with the visual arts, we teach that objects are not neutral, in terms of either value or significance. We educate our students to recognize the embodiment of relationships of authority and power in objects and images. Moreover, cultural and social contexts shape meaning and power relationships between individuals; guns in classrooms, laboratories, or offices signify differently from guns in wartime, police work, or at ranges, and they perpetuate the power dynamics at play in those spheres.
We stand in solidarity with groups on our campus who areaffected disproportionately by violence, including communities of color, women, individuals living with disabilities and members of the LGBTQIA community. Continue reading Department of Art and Art History Statement on Campus Carry
Fellows at the Institute for Historical Studies Concerns about Campus Carry
As faculty fellows invited to spend the year hosted by the Institute for Historical Studies in the Department of History, we’ve joined your community for the year in order participate in the larger system efforts to make what Chancellor McRaven calls a “Quantum Leap” forward in the quality of intellectual life in the state. Since the Institute was established in 2007, it has brought together fellows like us from around the country and the world, building a reputation in a competitive environment as a unique center for creative historical work that enhances the lives of faculty and students on campus. Interaction with the UT community distinguishes this fellowship from opportunities at other universities and centers.
But that distinction is dulled by the recent policy facilitating the ability of individuals to carry handguns onto campus. Each of us hails from public institutions in states that respect citizens’ basic constitutional rights. None of us has to confront colleagues, students or staff carrying guns in our home institutions nor would we at most other sites hosting fellows in the discipline of History.
We wish to add our voice to those of students, faculty, staff and families who oppose any interpretation of Second Amendment rights to extend to carrying arms into classrooms and spaces of learning, and any implementation of campus-carry laws that undermine the maintenance of a safe, free intellectual community, one that continues to attract talented teachers and researchers. Continue reading Fellows at the Institute for Historical Studies Concerns about Campus Carry
Video from Gun-Free UT Rally November 10, 2015
Department of Mathematics Statement on Opposition to Guns in Classrooms
November 12, 2015
The Department of Mathematics at The University of Texas at Austin is opposed to allowing guns in classrooms and faculty offices. The presence of guns, or even their potential presence, would create an atmosphere of fear and intimidation that would impede our ability to teach, to mentor students, and to conduct research, and it would interfere with our students’ ability to learn. As such, guns would undermine the core mission of the University. Continue reading Department of Mathematics Statement on Opposition to Guns in Classrooms
Department of Economics on Campus Carry
The undersigned faculty, staff, and emeriti of the Department of Economics at the University of Texas at Austin strongly oppose the “campus carry” bill (Senate Bill 11) that is scheduled to go into effect August 1, 2016. We believe that the presence of guns (concealed or otherwise) in classrooms, faculty offices, social spaces, and dormitories is unsafe and will inhibit the free exchange of ideas and viewpoints that is integral to a university. As we aspire to be a first tier public university, we must recognize that this law will damage our ability to recruit and retain the best students and faculty from across Texas, the United States, and the world. Continue reading Department of Economics on Campus Carry
Department of Biomedical Engineering Statement on Campus Carry
We, the members of the Department of Biomedical Engineering listed below, state our strong opposition to concealed weapons on campus. As biomedical engineers we strive to improve human health by training students to bridge engineering and physical sciences with the biological sciences. The free exchange of ideas in the classroom, laboratories, and faculty and staff offices is central to this goal and we feel that the presence of guns on campus will inhibit free speech and open dialog. In addition, almost all Biomedical Engineering laboratories contain flammable and toxic chemicals,
biological agents and other hazards, and the presence of guns in these environments could pose additional threats. Allowing guns in campus buildings would be detrimental to our ability to educate students and is counter to the mission of the Department of Biomedical Engineering. Continue reading Department of Biomedical Engineering Statement on Campus Carry
Department of Philosophy Statement on Campus Carry
November 2, 2015
The faculty, staff, and graduate students of the Department of Philosophy, whose names are listed below, oppose allowing guns in our classrooms, offices, and other campus locations. We believe that the implementation of Texas Senate Bill 11 makes the campus more dangerous for faculty and students. Continue reading Department of Philosophy Statement on Campus Carry
The Arguments Used by Campus Carry Supporters are Wrong
1. Campus Carry won’t have much impact because CHL holders must be over 21 and few such students live on campus. WRONG:
- Over 5000 people within a 5 mile radius of UT-Austin’s campus have CHLs.
- Tens of thousands of visitors come to UT every semester.
- The UT community is not just undergraduates, but also includes graduate students, faculty, administrators and staff–most of whom are over 21.
- Texas recognizes licenses from other states, some of which have minimum ages of 18 or 19. Those licensed carriers are supposed to obey Texas law (including age restrictions) while in Texas, but many have had no training whatsoever and do not know Texas law. Alabama, for example, issues concealed carry licenses to people as young as 18, and has no training requirement at all.
- There are classrooms, offices, meeting rooms, and other public spaces in some UT dorms, such as Jester and Carothers, where non-residents can come and go during business hours.
2. Campus Carry will allow people to protect themselves from criminals. WRONG:
- Guns prove to be no more effective at protecting people from crime than other weapons and less effective than running and hiding or calling the police.
- FBI data shows that the single leading cause of gun homicide is not from ‘criminals’ but from arguments that get out of hand.
- Civilians with guns make it harder for qualified law enforcement to do their job in active shooter incidents, because they cannot distinguish the shooter from the CHL holders.
3. Gun Free zones attract criminals with guns. WRONG:
- Mass shootings on and around college campuses are horrific and scary, but they are rare.
- Most college campuses are gun-free and they are among the safest places in Texas and the US.
- Mass shooters do not choose their targets because they are in Gun Free zones.
4. Good Guys with guns can stop Bad Guys with guns. WRONG:
- The FBI found only 1 of 160 active shooter incidents between 2000-2013 was stopped by a civilian with a concealed carry permit (who was neither a member of law enforcement nor a security guard); 21 incidents were stopped by UNARMED civilians.
- In several cases when CHL holders have attempted to intervene, they have been killed, injured, or nearly shot the wrong person.
- Security experts with extensive training don’t trust CHL holders to be effective in a crisis
- Simulations prove the security experts’ point.
5. Women with guns can better protect themselves against sexual violence. WRONG:
- A study of FBI and Clery Act data shows that sexual violence has not decreased on campuses where Concealed Carry has been implemented.
- Most campus sexual assault occurs between acquaintances, where the victim would be unlikely to use a gun.
6. Trust CHL holders: they are law-abiding citizens.
- Conviction rates are unreliable, because negligent shootings by presumptive “good guys” often go unprosecuted.
SB11 directs college presidents to determine a “reasonable” policy for where guns are allowed. We call upon UT President Fenves to declare all campus buildings off limits to guns, and we call upon the legislature to respect that decision.
Sources Continue reading The Arguments Used by Campus Carry Supporters are Wrong
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