Category: Texas “Open Carry”
University of Texas dean to quit over gun law
| February 26, 2016 | 7:57 pm | Local/State, political struggle, Texas "Open Carry" | Comments closed

University of Texas dean to quit over gun law

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-35673426

University of Texas anti-gun protestImage copyright AP
Image caption Some student groups have rallied against the law

A dean at the University of Texas is stepping down over a new state law which will allow concealed handguns to be carried on university campuses.

Frederick Steiner said the policy was not “appropriate” for higher education and “did not make logical sense”.

Texas passed the legislation last year and it goes into effect in August.

Many higher education officials and students have objected to the law, with concerns it may discourage students from attending universities in Texas.

Supporters of the law argue it is “critical” to self-defence and upholding constitutional rights.

But for Frederick Steiner, dean of the Texas School of Architecture, guns should not be allowed on university grounds.

“I grew up believing there was an appropriate place for guns and it was not in a place of higher education and higher learning,” he told Fox News.

Warning to staff

“I thought I would be responsible for enforcing a law I don’t believe in,” said Mr Steiner, who has been at the school since 2001. He says he plans to return to the University of Pennsylvania, but not until the law is passed in August.

Greg Fenves, president of the University of Texas, has said he does not support guns on campus but he must enforce the law.

Gun rights activists Phil Newsome, left, and Jason Mosley, right, carry guns and flags as they march near the University of Texas, on 12 December 2015, in Austin, Texas.Image copyright AP
Image caption Supporters of the new gun law say it upholds their constitutional rights

Mr Fenves said that the law would make it more difficult to keep faculty and students at the university.

Long-time dean Frederick Steiner agreed, saying it was “already part of the conversation when I was trying to recruit and retain graduate students.”

Meanwhile, staff at the University of Houston have warned professors there to be careful discussing sensitive topics and drop them from the curriculum if they “sense anger” from students who may be armed.

According to the Houston Chronicle, they have been instructed to “not ‘go there’ if you sense anger; limit student access off hours; go to appointment-only office hours; only meet ‘that student’ in controlled circumstances”.

According to the law, private universities are allowed to ban guns on campus.

Rules of the jungle become law in Texas: Kill first and ask questions later

by James Thompson

Today the new “open carry” law was put into effect in the Lone Star State. It is now legal to carry a lethal weapon in full view in public. Texans may now strut down Main Street USA with loaded firearms visible to all.

2015 marked a new level of slaughter of young black people in the USA. Many reports were made of officers, quaking in their boots, when they spotted 12-year-olds with toy guns. Their main defense was “I was afraid for my life.” These cowards shot children first and asked questions later.

Following the logic of the cops’ defense, new norms for civilized behavior are established.

If it is permissible for cops to kill children because they “fear for their life”, let’s look at what this means for everybody else.

Before proceeding, it is important to point out that in no way does this article advocate violence of any type and in fact the point of the article is to argue against wholesale violence.

Returning to the cops’ defense, if it is okay to kill when you feel your life is in danger, let’s look at what this might mean.

If it is okay to kill when you feel your life is in danger, then in Texas it follows logically that if you see a person on the street with a visible weapon, it is okay to kill them. This means that people who strut down Main Street with guns and holsters could be targeted by the police or even civilians for slaughter.

Following this logic, people who encounter law enforcement officers who are brandishing a variety of weapons might feel that their life is in danger and it logically follows that it should be okay for them to slaughter law enforcement officers who brandish weapons. Perhaps US police may want to follow the example of other civilized countries in which their law enforcement officers do not carry weapons so that people do not feel their life is in danger.

Following the logic that if you feel your life is in danger, it is okay to kill, it should be permissible for people to kill military personnel since they frequently carry weapons.

Should there be a different standard for people who are paranoid since they always feel their life is in danger?

Again, this article does not advocate killing anyone, civilian or non-civilian, but is an attempt to expose the deadly logic of “it is okay to kill if you feel threatened.”

It is too bad that Texas politicians did not watch the 1971 movie “Little Murders” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-naHV28Ws0 . Hopefully, somebody who has half a brain will reverse this dangerous law. There has been enough blood harvest in the USA.

 

Freedom Rider: An Angry White Man Kills Again
Can Texas get any crazier?
| February 12, 2015 | 9:30 pm | Analysis, humor, political struggle, Texas "Open Carry" | Comments closed

By James Thompson

 

Many people in the world are beginning to wonder if something bad got into the water in Texas. Texas is known for its outrageous right wing politicians such as George W. Bush, Ted Cruz, Rick Perry and many others.

 

In the last election cycle, Texas elected Greg Abbott as the successor to Rick Perry for the governor’s office. Mr. Abbott is well known to be a pal of Ted Nugent who is a nutcase, right wing, neo-Nazi rocker. Dan Patrick was elected lieutenant governor. Mr. Patrick has distinguished himself in the past for his admissions to a psychiatric hospital.

 

The Texas legislature has been predominantly right wing for many years now.

 

The legislative struggle would be predictable given this political background. Texas legislators have mired themselves in a senseless struggle over “unlicensed open carry” legislation. If passed, such legislation would legalize the open carrying of handguns. If passed, this legislation would put cowboys back on the streets of Texas. No one seems to be bothered by the fact that a two-year-old shot and killed his mother in a store in Idaho just a few weeks ago. Perhaps Texas legislators should include in the new law a provision which would allow two-year-olds to openly carry handguns.

 

It should be noted that crazed advocates of open carry are now openly harassing legislators who oppose the open carry legislation.

 

In a country where many African-Americans and Muslims have been recently shot and killed in hate crimes, legislation legalizing the open carry of handguns should be disgusting to all people of conscience.

 

Another major legislative focus in Texas is to replace Texas’ “Confederate Heroes Day” holiday with a “Civil War Remembrance Day” to honor all who fought in the Civil War.

 

Many Texas snakes are crawling out from under rocks hissing at any possibility that the Confederate soldiers who fought for slavery might not receive total honor and recognition for their dastardly deeds.

 

If justice is to be served in Texas, someone should propose legislation to establish a day of remembrance for the slaves who contributed so much to Texas history and suffered so much at the hands of the Confederate Texas snakes.