C-SPAN’s television coverage of the 2011 Students for Concealed Carry National Conference (August 8, 2011) is now available for viewing on the C-SPAN website: http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/Carryo
By Students for Concealed Carry
Join Students for Concealed Carry (formerly Students for Concealed Carry on Campus) in our nation’s capital this August for an afternoon of education, debate and socializing with other like-minded students!
On August 8, college students from throughout the United States will attend the second Students for Concealed Carry Conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
The event will feature many distinguished speakers and guests. Among them will be author and scholar Dr. John R. Lott and well-known civil rights litigator Alan Gura.
Conference attendees will be provided with a free night’s stay at the Rosslyn @ Key Bridge Holiday Inn in Arlington, and students traveling over 750 miles are eligible to receive a travel scholarship up to $300. Travel itineraries should be forwarded to conference@concealedcampus.org in order to secure travel scholarships and to reserve seats at the conference.
SCC strongly encourages all members to attend this historic event. Those in attendance will have an opportunity to meet and network with like-minded individuals from throughout the United States, make important contacts, hear world-renowned scholars speak about concealed carry on college campuses and visit the nation’s capital.
WHEN: Monday, August 8, from noon to 4:30 PM.
WHERE: National Press Club, 529 14th Street Northwest, Washington, D.C. 20045
TRAVEL VOUCHERS: $300 per person for distances of 750 miles or more. LIMITED SUPPLIES, contact Daniel.Crocker@concealedcampus.org to confirm attendance!
HOTEL: Holiday Inn ROSSLYN @ KEY BRIDGE. The Rosslyn Metro (Metro map) is literally just a few stops away from either the National Press Club (the Metro Center stop) or Washington-Reagan Airport. (LIMITED RESERVATIONS, CONFIRM AS SOON AS POSSIBLE)
SPEAKERS/PANELISTS: Joyce Lee Malcolm, Bob Cottrol, Nelson Lund, Amanda Collins, Nikki Goeser, Dr. John Lott, Alan Gura, SCC President Daniel Crocker, spokesman and former president David Burnett. Other guests and panelists TBA.
By Harold Pease, Ph.D.
The Bakersfield Californian
Monday, Jun 06 2011 11:00 PM
In 2007, a student attending the University of Nevada, Reno, was raped on campus and is now suing the university for not protecting her, yet barring her from carrying a handgun on campus. She had a concealed handgun permit. The myth that police can protect her, or anyone else, at the moment of violence has been well-established by the laws of physics. Police, as good as they can be, cannot be in two places at once. For them to be on the scene, after knowledge of the need, will still take several minutes. Meanwhile, the university has left her a victim, she contends, and in so doing bears some responsibility for the crime.
As a faculty member of a sister institution of higher learning, I, too, am troubled by what I call a “protection vacuum” problem. If the institution can’t or won’t protect me, do I have the right to defend myself on campus as anywhere else? After Virginia Tech, why shouldn’t I have this right? Most classrooms have but one door and often windows are not designed for easy escape. This leaves everyone in the room in a potential hostage setting because no one is supposed to have a firearm — even those who have a concealed weapons permit, as did Amanda Collins, the woman who is suing the Reno school. I do have a black belt in karate — even a second degree — but I missed the part where you catch bullets with your teeth.
READ THE REST AT BAKERSFIELD.COM.
By Brittany Anas, Camera Staff Writer
Boulder Daily Camera
Posted: 06/08/2011 08:56:36 AM MDT
DENVER – Colorado Supreme Court justices will decide if concealed carry permit holders should be allowed to bring guns to the University of Colorado’s campuses after attorneys Wednesday debated whether regents can legally ban guns.
The appeals court judges ruled that the Concealed Carry Act of 2003 — a state law that prohibits local municipalities from adopting ordinances that would limit concealed-carry rights — did apply to universities.
But CU attorney Patrick O’Rourke argued before the justices this morning that the act applies to cities and counties — not CU’s campuses.
READ THE REST AT DAILYCAMERA.COM.
Texas College Republicans and Young Conservatives of Texas recently joined Students for Concealed Carry on Campus in asking Governor Rick Perry to add campus carry to the agenda for current special session of the Texas Legislature.
Read the June 6, 2011, press release from Texas College Republicans.
Read the June 7, 2011, press release from Young Conservatives of Texas.
On March 28, 2011, a circuit court judge in Fredericksburg, Virginia, ruled that the University of Mary Washington had no legal duty to protect a female student who was sexually assaulted in a university parking garage. This ruling contradicts the claims of campus carry opponents who argue that it is the job of colleges to provide for the safety of their students.
READ MORE AT FREDERICKSBURG.COM
The Nevada State Law Enforcement Officers’ Association (NSLEOA) recently announced its support for Nevada Senate Bill 231, which would legalize licensed concealed carry on Nevada college campuses. The NSLEOA sent an email to Nevada State Senators, asking them to move the bill forward. In this May 19, 2011, interview from Cam & Company, NRA lobbyist Carrie Herbertson discusses the NSLEOA’s decision to support the bill.
On May 19, 2011, Texas Senate Bill 1581, which contained an amendment by Senator Jeff Wentworth that would have legalized licensed concealed carry at Texas public colleges, was struck down in the Texas House, on the point of order that it violated the Texas Constitution’s “single-subject” rule. In this May 18 interview on Cam & Company, W. Scott Lewis, Texas legislative director for Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, explains some of the hurdles faced by campus carry legislation in Texas.
On Monday, May 9, following months of parliamentary challenges, backroom negotiations, and public accusations, the Texas Senate finally passed legislation that would legalize licensed concealed carry (of handguns) at Texas public colleges. By a vote of 21 to 10, the Texas Senate agreed to add Senator Jeff Wentorth’s (R- San Antonio) “campus carry” amendment to SB 1581, a higher education finance bill authored by Senator Steve Ogden (R-Bryan). SB 1581 passed by a vote of 19-12 and will now go to the Texas House. Texas Governor Rick Perry has repeatedly voiced his support for campus carry and promised to sign the legislation if it’s passed by the legislature.
W. Scott Lewis, Texas legislative director for Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, commented, “This has never been a question of securing majority support; it’s always been about overcoming the parliamentary hurdles laid out by a handful of Senators opposed to campus carry. Now that it’s gotten past the Senate’s infamous two-thirds rule, campus carry has more momentum than a runaway freight train.”
The language of Senator Wentworth’s amendment is very similar to his Senate Bill 354, which stalled in the Senate last month after two Senators abruptly withdrew support during a floor debate, dropping the number of supporters from 22 to 20. A longstanding tradition in the Texas Senate requires that two-thirds of the Senators present (21 of 31) agree to hear a bill.
After exploring various methods for getting his bill heard on the Senate floor, Senator Wentworth was finally able to attach his amendment to SB 1581 after an earlier amendment by Senator Judith Zaffirini (D-Laredo) changed the overall subject matter of the bill, allowing Senator Wentworth’s amendment to meet the “germaneness” test laid out in the Senate rules. Senator Ogden supported Senator Wentworth’s amendment despite having previously opposed SB 354.
Lewis concluded, “Despite all of the media hype, all of the fear mongering, and all of the misinformation, a vast majority of the Texas Senators tasked with researching and voting on this issue opted for empirical evidence over emotional rhetoric.”
RELATED:
“Campus Carry Advocates to Senator Rodney Ellis: ‘Stop Lying’”
“Another Texas Senator Needs to Fact Check His Arguments”
Click here to learn more about campus carry in Texas.
Just 24 hours after refuting Senator Rodney Ellis’s (D-Houston) claim that legalizing licensed concealed carry (of handguns) on Texas college campuses would cost public colleges millions in increased insurance premiums, Students for Concealed Carry on Campus is prepared to call out another Texas Senator for playing fast and loose with the facts.
Senator Eddie Lucio, Jr. (D-Brownsville) has repeatedly argued that the entire campus of Texas A&M University-Kingsville should be exempted from any proposed campus carry legislation because, according to Senator Lucio, the university shares facilities with Santa Gertrudis Academy High School. But while Senator Lucio’s argument conjures up images of high school and college students passing each other in common restrooms and sitting across from each other in a common cafeteria, no such common areas exist.
W. Scott Lewis, Texas legislative director for Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, commented, “I’m not sure if Senator Lucio honestly doesn’t understand the relationship between the university and the high school or if he’s simply trying to pass a ‘not in my backyard’ amendment, but it’s clear that his statements don’t reflect reality.”
Senator Jeff Wentworth (R-San Antonio), author of the “campus carry” legislation at issue, attempted to address Senator Lucio’s concerns by amending the bill to clarify that concealed carry would still be prohibited on the premises of any primary or secondary school located on a college campus. But Senator Lucio wasn’t satisfied, claiming, “The reason, Senator Wentworth, your amendment is not going to work in my district is because the high school campus in Kingsville is not confined to a single building. They share facilities with the university. It is impossible to enforce your amendment, so we need to exempt the university.”
Something about Senator Lucio’s argument didn’t sit right with campus carry advocate Michael Cargill, who noted, “The idea that parents of 14- and 15-year-old girls wouldn’t object to their daughters sharing lunchrooms and athletic facilities with 20-year-old men struck me as highly improbable.” Mr. Cargill decided to visit the campus and see for himself.
At Santa Gretrudis Academy High School, Mr. Cargill spoke with Superintendent Mary E. Springs, Athletic Coordinator Hector Gonzales, and a school resource officer from the Kingsville Police Department who asked not to be named.
Although Senator Lucio’s office told Mr. Cargill that the high school shares a cafeteria and athletic facility with the university, Mr. Cargill quickly learned that the high school students actually use the cafeteria and gymnasium at Santa Gertrudis’ nearby K-8 school.
He also learned that the high school, which has fewer than 200 students, is housed on one floor of a two-story building shared with the university. The floor used by the high school has its own secured entrance and is not accessible from the floor used by the college. According to the school resource officer, the entire building (both floors) is considered a high school for the purpose of enforcing federal gun free/drug free school zone laws.
There are only two instances when the high school utilizes TAMUK facilities: It hosts interscholastic sporting events at TAMUK’s “old gym,” and students sometimes visit the university library to conduct research for school projects.
Because state law would still prohibit carrying a concealed handgun at a high school sporting event, the high school’s use of the “old gym” would not create a conflict. And because all public libraries and most museums in the state of Texas allow licensed concealed carry on the premises, the university library would present no greater risk than the multitude of other places students might be required to visit when researching school projects.
In light of the fact that only one campus building is regularly utilized by the high school, there is no reason that concealed carry should be prohibited on the rest of the TAMUK campus. Despite Senator Lucio’s claims to the contrary, allowing concealed carry at TAMUK would not mandate allowing concealed carry in the high school itself, something he erroneously suggests would conflict with federal law.
While attempting to amend Senator Wentworth’s campus carry legislation, to exempt any college that houses a primary or secondary school, Senator Lucio argued, “This amendment is necessary to uphold the—quote—Gun-Free School Zones Act—unquote.” But in reality, the federal “Gun-Free School Zones Act” includes an exemption for holders of state-issued concealed handgun licenses. The State of Texas already utilizes that exemption by allowing CHL holders to carry concealed handguns in the parking lots, parking garages, and outside walkways of primary and secondary schools—all locations covered by the act.
Like Senators Ellis and Gallegos, Senator Lucio needs to perform his own due diligence before repeating as fact the arguments fed to him by college administrators seeking to carry out their own political agendas.
W. Scott Lewis summed up the underlying folly of Senator Lucio’s arguments: “Opponents of campus carry want to create fear and paranoia about the prospect of allowing trained, licensed adults to carry concealed handguns in close proximity to teenagers. Yet, few parents have any reservations about dropping off their kids at a movie theater, a shopping mall, or a church—all locations where licensed concealed carry is typically allowed.”
Click here to learn more about campus carry in Texas.
