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Abstract
Senate Bill 11 was recently passed and will be taking effect September 1st 2016. The
campus carry bill is especially significant due to the large number of people it has affects,
namely, every college student in the state of Texas. This essay will analyze the provisions
offered to universities under this bill as well as specific provisions withheld, as will as
recommendations for how the bill might have been better under different provisions.
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Senate Bill 11 is the recent law passed in the state of Texas that has been
affectionately nicknamed “campus carry”. As of September 1st 2016 any person who has
a conceal carry license for a handgun will be allowed to carry it while on any university
campus in the state. The mandatory adoption of policy extends to private universities as
well. Senate Bill 11 also outlines all of the areas where the campus carry law does not
cover, keeping federally protected areas like hospitals gun free. The bill goes on to
provide some provisions to universities so that they can create their own unique policies
to better suit their needs. It is important for people to understand the significance of this
bill over all by first exploring the different aspects of the new law that make it unique,
followed by the provisions offered to the universities in the text of the bill, finally
considering the potential for improvement on the provisions.
The significance of this law’s passing is overwhelming on many levels regardless
of where one might stand on the topic. For one, the passing of this bill has affected every
single college student in the state of Texas. Regardless of whether or not a student thinks
it’s a good or bad thing, it doesn’t change the fact that the law’s passing has altered all of
their lives. Beyond that, there is significance to the inclusion of private universities,
namely because it is private property and there is a general precedent for those types of
universities of refusal to alter their course when it is suggested by the government and
they continue to follow their original standards and guidelines.. Breaking into the most
interesting aspects of the bill, it is significant American society beyond the state of Texas.
It’s passing is almost a political statement rather than an issue of rights, because it was
forged in the wake of massive political debate on gun control. Beyond all of those
significant points, by far the most unique aspect of the bill is the controversies of having
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tools that result in death, carried in large quantity, on grounds where America has had
some of its most traumatic events facilitated with similar instruments. Regardless of what
stage of education people are in, they have an unforgettable reference to justify their fear.
With primary schools there is Sandy Hook, high schools have the memory Columbine, or
at university pointing back towards the UT sniper or the Virginia Tech massacre, the
concerns that have been raised against the bill have less to do with party lines and more
to do with raw emotion on either end.
As with any law passed in the United States, there are many outlined exceptions
to the policy, otherwise know as provisions that schools are permitted to make in order to
effectively maintain order. The first provision is that all Universities are permitted to
establish policies limiting the carry and storage of handguns on specific points inside the
campus, like a gun free zone. There is also a provision made for private universities to
have the ability to create their own policy regarding the carry or storage of firearms in
buildings that or on campus which are owned and leased out by the university.
Just like the exceptions to every rule there are also outlined provisions that are
specifically written so that there is no twisting of words to allow any University to take
that provision. The first rule that was not to be broken, pertained specifically to the pre-
sanctioned no gun zones enforced by the government, even after the law takes place.
These zones include primary or secondary schools that are on the premise of the
university, hospitals or medical care facilities owned by the university, and of course any
federally secured areas like airports, and federal prisons. The other provision specifically
not granted to any schools, is a use of the gun free zone provision in order to blanket the
campus with a gun free zone.
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With an objective view of all the provisions offered under the text of the bill, it is
fair to say that it is almost entirely reasonable, however there is one provision that should
be added in the interest of upholding justice, fairness, and ethics while enacting public
policy. This provision falls specifically to the private universities that are going to be
affected by the policy change in a number of ways next fall. It is proposed that the
government should include a provision to financially assist private universities who
might need it, in the obtaining of necessary equipment to effectively apply the law and
include the provision of gun free zones on campus.
This proposed provision is in an effort to ensure that all universities are prepared
for the new struggle of having hundreds of students with firearms and several smaller gun
free zones. The recommendation is based on the fact that the state does not own any of
the property that a private university sits on, and private universities intentionally do not
take government funding for the explicit purpose of being able to function with out
government intrusion on their core functionality or curriculum. Since the government is
forcing this policy change on private universities, and these schools don’t have
government money allotted to them for these types of changes, it would seem to be in the
best interests of everyone involved.
The purpose of policy making and adding provisions to policies is so that the
government can be doing their best to facilitate justice, fairness under the law, and the
preservation of ethics or morals while keeping society functional at the same time. The
addition of the proposed provision would ensure all three of those focuses are met in this
bill. In the interest of justice, the suggested provision would add legitimacy to the
mandatory nature of this bill. There is a long-standing relationship between government
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suggestions for progressive schooling, and private universities disregard for any of it.
That being said, a no-questions-asked implementation of a policy needs to be viewed as
legitimate by all parties involved, especially when there is so much controversy
surrounding the issue. It is unjust to demand that a private university adhere to a new
policy that would create an unreasonable financial burden by the simple act of applying
it.
With regard to fairness and equity, there only needs to be examination of the
dynamics of the relationships between the government and state schools as apposed to the
relationship between the government and private schools. The government almost
completely funds the state university, which in return, means that there is no significant
financial burden to be shouldered by the university when a policy like Senate Bill 11 is
enacted. To ensure equity for both types of universities that are impacted by the passing
of the bill, it would only make sense for financial assistance to be provided to the private
institutions in order to get the system up and running.
Finally, there is the moral implication of the suggested provision. The Provision
of financial assistance to a private university for the purpose of applying Senate Bill 11 is
the ethical stance. For one, if the law takes hold in September and a private university is
still ill equipped for hundreds of students to be carrying weapons, as well as the added
potential for the campus police to become over burdened with the combination of their
normal duty and issues like having to be wary of people entering the no gun zones while
armed. An ill equipped campus creates a potential environment for those opposing the
new law to have a field day with the risk management issues.
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The only intended outcome of this proposition is to ensure justice, fairness, and
the fulfillment of the state’s moral imperative through its enactment of policies. There is
the potential for unintended consequences involving massive social conflict, if the
government provides funds to a university that is considered a faith-based institution.
Even if the purpose of the interaction is to facilitate the common good, there is social
precedence for complaints about the “Separation of Church and State”. With that
potential considered, it would very clearly still be better to uphold justice, fairness, and
moral imperative while ensuring the safety of citizens who attend these private
universities.
In conclusion, Senate Bill 11 has been voted on and will take place starting
September 1st 2016. The new policy allows for the licensed carry of a concealed firearm
while on campus, so long as the carrier doesn’t go into the established gun free zones
with his or her weapon. In order to see this impacts of this new law, there was a summery
of how the different aspects of this bill make it unique to society today, followed by the
analysis of the provisions offered to the university in the text of the bill, finally drawing
the conclusion that a provision for financial assistance to private universities should be
incorporated in the text of the bill.
