BREAKING: UT History Prof Advocates Defiance, And an Alum Responds With a Proposal

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Jorge Cañizares-Esguerra (courtesy apuntes.com)

Some members of the University of Texas-Austin faculty aren’t happy about the change in state law that will allow concealed carry in the classroom next year. They just received the following call to action this afternoon from UT history prof Jorge Cañizares-Esguerra:

Dear Colleagues,

I am member of the History Department. For the last 2 weeks many colleagues in the humanities have begun to organize against the implementation of campus carry. As of 1 August, 2016, all state universities in Texas will allow staff, students (over 21), faculty and visitors to carry concealed guns in buildings (it is now legal to carry concealed guns into public, open spaces on campuses). We have initiated two campaigns that we hope you will consider joining (please see email by GunFree-UT), but particularly the statement by faculty refusing teaching in classrooms where guns are allowed (we have already 350 faculty who have signed) . . .

This law, which passed at the very last minute of the 2015 legislative session after the negotiation of some restrictions, allows for each university to designate some buildings as gun-free. So each university has set up commissions to contrive various formulas on how to carve out gun-free spaces. UT-Austin’s will come up with a plan in the next 30 days.

The rhetoric of the supporters of the law insists that gun-free zones need to be eliminated entirely because they are deliberately targeted by mass murderers. Last week’s shooting at Oregon gives the lie to this assumption. Oregon is a campus carry state. The problem is not that mass shootings occurred because we don’t have enough guns to defend ourselves. The problem is guns. All actuarial evidence and every epidemiological study show that guns, in and of themselves, increase significantly the statistics on deaths, assaults, and accidents. Supporters of the law argue that they want to feel safer from violence and criminals. The problem with this argument is that it contradicts all available evidence. The murder rate in Texas in the last two years, for example, was 5 times higher than the murder rate in Texas university campuses. Those who really are worried about safety on campuses should then fight to keep campuses gun-free zones, for they currently are SAFER zones from gun-related violence than the rest of the state. Supporters of the law maintain that if women were to have access to concealed guns rapists would think twice. Statistics contradict these NRA assertions. In Utah and Colorado universities, campus rapes went up by a whopping 36 % (Colorado) and 15 % (Utah) after the passing of campus carry (in public spaces, not buildings). This is not a reasonable dispute between two ideologies: gun-free and pro-gun. This is a dispute between FACTS and faith-based ideologues who have no one shred of evidence in their favor. And the world looks at us both in disbelief and with disgust that we allow kids and teens be sacrificed in orgies of violence to the gods of the gun manufacturing lobbies every day, in endless liturgies of blood.

The main cause of gun killing in the USA, including the state of Texas, is not crime, or gang related murders, is ARGUMENTS: people who are armed and engage in heat-of-the moment disputes. Based on this evidence gathered by the FBI, it is reasonable to assume that guns on campus statistically are a huge threat, regardless of the personal beliefs of law-abiding gun carriers. Since faculty are by and large folks who know the facts they will think twice before engaging in any public argumentation among students who might have arms. Reasoned argumentation is the core of university education. Sometimes people lose their tempers. What are we faculty to do when a student becomes visibly upset after getting a grade and comes to your office to dispute a grade? This law will lead to grade inflation, in addition to higher rates of gun related suicides, accidents, and sexual violence.

The consequences of bringing guns to classrooms and dorms are predictable: it will put a chill on public debate and it will increase the rate of suicides, accidents, and sexual violence on campuses. This law will impact the humanities most severely because it will intimidate faculty from tackling controversial issues in class. Most faculty will think twice before offering courses on controversial topics like race, gender, inequality, religion, slavery, empire, colonialism, etc. This law will force universities to spend millions in establishing gun-free spaces, money that should rather be used in salaries, equity, and tenure-track lines. The unintended consequences of the law will also affect universities across Texas: it will become a recruiting- and retaining-talent nightmare. Leading scholars will hesitate to relocate to campuses festooned with gun signs and gun lockers, which will be needed to carve out gun-free spaces. These were all points brought up by the Chancellor of the UT system and by our University President before the last state legislature, but it was all to no avail. The law was passed.

That we should be even discussing the virtue of having guns on campuses is itself a testament to our passivity. After every mass murder a radicalization of the second amendment discourse ensues. And every time there is a mass shooting, new laws are enacted to make guns even more available at every possible public setting. This is both paradoxical and obscene. Had we all collectively put pressure on our legislatures and on gun manufacturers (via our pensions funds), this ever expanding second-amendment laws would have never passed. Yet they did. It is time to act.
Cordially yours

Jorge Cañizares-Esguerra
Alice Drysdale Sheffield Professor of History University of Texas at Austin

To paraphrase an eloquent man, Prof. Cañizares-Esguerra has a right to his own opinion, but he doesn’t have the right to his own facts. How many bogus claims and “statistics” can you spot above?

We ran the perfesser’s call to action past TTAG contributor, distinguished barrister, and UT alum Louis Bonham for a reaction and he offered this:

Professors, like anyone else, are free to speak their mind on whatever subject they want. However, they do not have license to disregard or disobey laws they disagree with, especially when they are being paid by the public fisc.

While one would hope that the UT administration would insist that its faculty obey the law (and discipline or dismiss those who refuse to do so), history unfortunately shows that UT is unlikely to do so (unless, perhaps, when enforcing the law in question would support the preferred narrative of the faculty lounge).

There is, however, one essential aspect of academic life at a public institution that the professors and administrators cannot control: state funding.

Prof. Cañizares-Esguerra wants to play. I suggest that we play hardball. Accordingly, I submit the following modest proposal:

Our elected state legislators should be pressed (through the TSRA and similar groups) to pass a bill that cuts funding by 25% each year to any academic department at any public university that refuses to abide by state law (including but not limited to the campus carry bill) or tolerates a refusal of a member of its faculty to do so.

If he wants action — I say “game on.”  And I daresay the gun owners of Texas have a lot more friends in the state legislature than humanities professors do.

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123 COMMENTS

  1. Most college professors have always been a bunch Liberal prigs. I wonder what they think will happen if some ignores a campus ban on guns, and begins shooting people.

    Complete idiots. Remember, those who are good at something do it. Those who are not good at it . . . teach in a university.

    • That’s a bit of a slam to those that are “good at something”, but choose to instruct others how to be “good at something”.
      Ever had a good teacher? Then they were good at something: teaching.

      • Every teacher that I had who was a good teacher was good at something other than teaching. The rest were just baggage handlers with degrees.

        How many good teachers did I have? I can remember one in junior high school, one in high school, none in college and a few in law school.

        The good law school teachers were practicing lawyers who were good at their work. I’m grateful to them for sharing their expertise. They certainly didn’t do it for the money.

        • This is the silver lining in the new trend of schools hiring more and more “adjunct faculty.” Since you can barely afford a bag of potato(e) chips on an adjunct’s wages, obviously adjuncts have to have outside income from a Real Job[tm].

          As such, adjuncts tend to not have the idiotic left-wing mindset of the cosseted, preening, full-time faculty. The students come out better for the experience.

        • DG raises a good point. From time to time I’ve considered teaching as an adjunct, but just didn’t want to put up with the BS from the tenured faculty.

        • If I was a student or professor or teacher , in most universities or colleges or Juniors , today , in Progressive intolerant America , I may not really want to tempt myself with carrying a gun to class with me . I know we need to protect our right to defend ourselves from all enemies with all means but we also need to emphasize good judgment in where we carry and the situations we place ourselves in and our ability to maintain control of our emotions in every conceivable situation . If you decide to carry a firearm , you may want to strictly curtail your bar room nights and your encounters of road rage , calm down , take a breath and understand that people will do stupid stuff , your gun does not make you the corrector of all that is stupid .
          I understand that the way a girl dresses should not provoke a rape or sexual assault of any kind , but it isn’t wise to place yourself into a situation whereby a person prone to assault is confronted by a reveal you could have avoided . Be wise in all you do , understanding people can be very stupid and you being a people yourself , can do something stupid too under the right circumstances .
          If you choose to carry a gun into your classroom , or wherever it might be , leave your pride and frustration at home and practice humility and patience . I have found that carrying a gun on my person at all times makes me a better person in regards to accepting the humanness of others .

        • Dyspeptic,

          My wife is currently an adjunct professor at two different private Christian colleges. She’s also working as a full time TOSA (teacher on special assignment – basically halfway between a teacher and asst. principal).

          She has a whole lot of life experience, and is enthusiastically right wing. I’ve worked with her students in mission trips and seen her in class. I’d take her life experience and penchant for the sifting and winnowing of truth over any of my prestigious UW-Madison professors. She’s currently teaching an intro speech class in one college and an advanced journalism class the other.

          I’m hoping the increase in adjuncts exposes impressionable college kids to an incredibly valuable life lessson: real world competence trumps fancy degrees and titles.

          There’s not a lot of TTAG time since we both work 55-75 hour weeks.

      • The law should require a minimum five years gainful, full-time employment in the private sector before one can be employed by a government or school.

    • I think this is more of Texas being a bunch of drama queens, like they have been in terms of gun rights the last few years. Because I’m sitting about 1 block from a college campus as a student in a state that allows open and concealed carry on campus… and no one cares.

    • While I do agree that college professor tend to be the modern equivalent of commissars, I will say that many of my history professors were published, some were even considered authorities in certain areas. One of my professors had been on several pioneering archeological digs, and his presence and contributions to the projects were well documented. I really think it depends on the subject rather than a blanket truth about professors. My Constitutional Law professor had spent no time as either a lawyer nor a judge, for example.

      • @Vitsaus

        I can see what you’re saying.

        But too many of my professors in my undergrad and graduate programs were so hung up on themselves, that all you had to do to get an A was agree with everything they said.

        A sad state of affairs for a profession that is supposed to be encouraging people to think for themselves.

      • “My Constitutional Law professor had spent no time as either a lawyer nor a judge, for example.”

        But 6 1/2 years as president…

        • Bingo

          Vitsaus – not sure if you are complaining or bragging. Evidence over recent decades is that the lawyerin business has little understanding or regard for the Constitution. Better you read it for yourself and find a good historian.

          The last century of protards rewriting of the Constitution, thru judicial interpretation, is despicable.

        • Congrats? What part of studying a document and the history of its application and interpretation requires you to have been a practicing lawyer?

    • The American history professors I had in high school weren’t leftist fools like this idiot. It truly amazes me that anyone can be educated on the history of this country and not understand why we have the 2nd Amendment and why it continues to be part of the freedoms enjoyed by the citizens of this country.

  2. So if the teacher boycotts class, I thin the students get an A. sounds good to me!
    UT can dump those professors and save some money.

  3. While a 25% per year funding cut might actually happen with enough pressure for such action, what SHOULD happen is ZERO State level funding while they continue to disregard the law.

    But, as we like to say, don’t let perfect be the enemy of good.

  4. “…We have initiated two campaigns that we hope you will consider joining (please see email by GunFree-UT), but particularly the statement by faculty refusing teaching in classrooms where guns are allowed (we have already 350 faculty who have signed) . . .”

    Announcement of Faculty Openings: Many (approx 350) openings for faculty positions…

    • Exactly! These people need to either do their job, or be replaced. Replacing them would not be difficult, and would send a strong signal to academics everywhere. PhD’s are a dime a dozen these days. Academia is filled with foreign (and American) post-docs who would love to move up to a tenure track position.

      • I seem to remember sometime in the past when a bunch or air traffic controllers believed they were “irreplaceable,” too. Wonder what they are doing now, seeing as how Ronnie Raygun fired the whole lot of them.

        • They don’t even ask “would you like fries with that” anymore, now it’s “do you want”

          And it’s “how may I help you” NOT “can I help you”
          … sigh

    • I would be in favor of making a professor carry a gun and gun training part of the requirement of teaching students . I think every single classroom should have an armed trained teacher ( professor ) , and one , armed CC student , identity unknown . It could be set up on a random draw as to which student is the designated carry person for the week . There are definitely some people who should not be trusted to be walking around with a gun but we can not deprive all the straight minded people their rights because of a few nuts so one has to balance a possible with a sure . Since classrooms are becoming battle grounds it is imperative that we treat them so and arm the ones responsible to maintaining their control . Sorry gun hating liberal progressive professors , go get your training and holster up .

  5. Maybe a few of the more liberal professors, like this one, will be too scared to teach in Texas due to campus carry, and we can thin the herd.

    Don’t temp me with a good time.

  6. “many colleagues in the humanities have begun to organize…”

    Oh, the humanities! Meanwhile, over on the Engineering campus (where people are required to use logic to solve problems), the profs just do their jobs and teach students.

    If he doesn’t want to teach in Texas, he could always get a job in Colorado, Utah or Idaho.

      • @Landon

        Agreed. When I was a TA in my graduate studies in Utah, both myself and the professor i worked for carried on campus every day. Utah has some of the best gun non-controlled laws in the USA. Utah recognizes any concealed carry permits issued by the Feds and any sate, county, local government in the USA and will issue out-of-state permits. I still have my Utah permit and haven’t lived there since 2007.

  7. These anti’s are making a huge deal out of the fact that the law in Oregon allows for concealed carry on campus so UCC could not have been a “Gun free zone” Pity of it is, everybody knew that but the students and anyone entering the campus or asking the administration about it. The school did everything including lying about it’s authority to deter anyone from lawfully carrying on campus, and in my opinion only, signed those nine people’s death warrants. Pretty strong language, but as the anti’s so love to say “If it saves one life”.

    • They also skip the part about the school did have the authority to ban weapons from buildings, which they did quite clearly in their policy. The only thing that was debatable was whether the school could administratively punish students/faculty for carrying on campus outside of buildings, even though it wasn’t against the law.

  8. Man, is he stupid. Comparing crime rates on university campuses to crime rates in a whole state, including cartel-infested border areas and , ahhh, “disadvantaged” big-city ghettos, and ascribing the difference solely to the fact that it wasn’t legal to carry a gun in the buildings on the campus? Anyway, why listen to someone who complains that the ‘other side’ isn’t engaged in a “reasonable argument”, just before he goes on a hysterical rant about “blood-soaked orgies” ?

    • Robert, This so called professor is to stupid to be even attending a class at a university much less teach one. Everything he said was a misrepresentation of facts but he did get to side in what this was really about:

      “money that should rather be used in salaries, equity, and tenure-track lines”.

      Its not about the safety of the universities, its about being afraid that professors won’t get annual huge raises for doing nothing and few tenured positions will be created to protect do nothing professors.

  9. If I am unhappy about a rule at work and I openly defy it; I’m fired. If I do not obey the law, I am fined or arrested with possible incarceration. I follow the laws. I follow the rules. I’m sick of these whiny little people and their unhappiness at not being able to control everyone.

  10. ‘…the statement by faculty refusing teaching in classrooms where guns are allowed (we have already 350 faculty who have signed) . . .’

    I can almost feel the students getting smarter right now.

  11. “…All actuarial evidence and every epidemiological study show that guns, in and of themselves, increase significantly the statistics on deaths, assaults, and accidents. ”

    So he freely admits that he believes the guns to be totems of evil and capable of causing harm all by themselves, just by their very existence.

  12. This is the kind of guy that would throw a woman holding an infant in the water to make room in the lifeboat!

  13. It is supposed to be a teaching institution. Those who can’t (or won’t) teach should be fired and replaced by those who can and will. It’s a win for liberty and for the education of the students. It also serves as a great object lesson for the students on how the real world works.

  14. Who wants to place bets on if this professor was born and raised in the US? Not that being an immigrant makes him a bad person, but it’s no secret that people flee oppressive governments and then push for the same oppressive laws in the US.

        • More importantly, “why”?

          The United States has, as both sides of the ‘gun’ issue will attest, an almost unique relationship with firearms. This is in many ways thanks to our history and formation. The point is, there are MANY advanced nations with no such relationship that have no real civilian ownership of guns. Why not go there?

  15. Oh, and BTW, I’ll tell you who is laughing at you, Professor–it isn’t “the world”, it’s the folks down the road at Texas A&M, once more treated to the sight of those effete T-sips wetting their panties at something normal people recognize as a normal part of life. So damn glad I did not do undergrad at UT…

  16. …a quick InterWeb search could not confirm this guy is a US citizen. If that’s so, then STFU.
    If he *is* a US citizen, then, well….the answer is still the same.

  17. Someone should point out to him that carrying on campus has been legal in several states including Colorado and Utah for years now and there have been no “blood soaked orgies”. This man is an embarrassment to those who call themselves Texans!

  18. Go ahead and quit then.

    “It’s the law of the land.”

    Or doesn’t that matter anymore?

    I say let these folks make good on their “threats” – they won’t teach, they won’t get paid, they can be replaced.

    “last minute change” – “loophole” – blah blah blah – grow up.
    Seems pretty clear cut to me. I’m tired of trying to deal with fools by catering to their foolishness.

  19. “Breaking”? The law doesn’t go into effect for almost a year. This chump’s little temper tantrum is hardly breaking news…

  20. I spent seven years attending four different colleges in Texas, including UT Austin, graduating with three degrees. I’m not sure where all these heated discussions are happening. I can’t recall any, but it’s admittedly been a while since I sat in a classroom. As a concealed carrier, the last thing I’d want to do is pull my gun because some doofus didn’t understand James Joyce or Nietzsche. At the very least, it’d cost me my license, which I worked to earn. My CHL class emphasized that the CHL holder has the obligation not to overreact, and I think most CHL holders take this obligation seriously.

  21. What are the odds that a concealed carry student on UT-Austin’s campus is actualy going to take a class taught by this wingnut? This guy doesn’t even know if ANY of his students would be concealed carriers because they should be CONCEALED.

    This moron is creating a problem for himself that did not previsously exist. Actually, two problems. His unemployed status would be the second one.

  22. “Interim UCC President Rita Cavin said at a news conference that the school has a no guns on campus policy.” So much for the assertion that the shooting disproved that campus carry would stopped the violence because “Oregon is a campus carry state.”

    j.

  23. “After every mass murder a radicalization of the second amendment discourse ensues. And every time there is a mass shooting, new laws are enacted to make guns even more available at every possible public setting.

    OMFG, how exactly does he justify this statement?

    This guys a dork. Let him run away to California. Dork and liar. No doubt Obama voter too.

  24. Anyone from Texas able to tell me how many shootings/incidents involving firearms have already occurred given:

    ” (it is now legal to carry concealed guns into public, open spaces on campuses).” Wouldn’t that be a pretty good indicator that his fears are unfounded?

    For folks in Colorado and Utah– any truth to his statistics on increases in rape? And is it the number of accusations (which wouldn’t mean much given the increasing pressure/encouragement to report rape/sexual assult) Is it attributed to an increase in a small number, or a change in how rape/sexual assault is defined?

    • I checked up on the stats for Utah on FBI UCR website and there isn’t any data that supports his statements. For Utah as a whole from 1994 to 2012 (more recent wasn’t available) forcible rape rate decreased 27.8%. As far as the rates on college campuses themselves I couldn’t find any reliable data, but it would be reasonable to guess it isn’t much different than the overall trend for the state. With regard to Colorado it seems to be pretty static as far as the rate change from year to year, but 2012 was at the lowest rate since 1995.

  25. After lording over his students for his entire career, this “teacher” is now facing the horrifying reality that his students are equal to him.

    I’m surprised that he hasn’t already had a stroke. Well, there’s plenty of time for that.

    • I am always a little surprised and dismayed by how much drama there is in Texas over guns and gun laws. I always thought Texas was this bastion of independent thinking and determination to maintain individual freedoms. Kind of the last frontier, but with all the hullabaloo over gun laws I have changed my mind about that.

      I was very surprised that the big victory to allow open carry only applied to people who already had a concealed carry permit. What good it that? If they have a concealed carry permit, why do they need to worry about open carry? Here in Virginia, anyone who can legally own a firearm can open carry. That means that people who do not have a concealed carry permit can open carry and have a means to defend themselves and their loved ones. It’s very common to see people open carrying here. The same goes for Utah, although Colorado is a Liberal cesspool and has raped individual gun rights.

      I don’t open carry because I don’t want the bad guys to know I’m armed, but it’s nice to know that people who haven’t applied for a CHP can carry. And my apologies to all of you from Texas. I’m not trying to put you down, I’m just expressing my surprise at the conditions there.

      • I think the only thing the open carry law change in Texas accomplished was it made printing or accidentally showing your carry firearm not illegal, other than that it’s hard to say.

        • @Landon

          That’s actually a really good point. I have heard accounts from other people of how if they unintentionally allowed their concealed handgun to be seen they could be charged. Still, that seems completely at odds with what us non-Texans have as an impression of Texas.

          Nevertheless, I AM happy for Texans that they don;t have to worry about that nonsense after the law takes effect at the first of the year. I just hope you can take your wonderful state back from these disgusting Liberals and once again be what so many of us see as a bastion of individualism.

        • Accidental display law was changed during prior session when mandatory CHL class hours were reduced, no longer being illegal behavior.

      • Don’t be surprised. It’s a huge, urban, diverse state The legislature is designed to block bills, not pass them–which is often a good thing, but can make getting rid of Reconstruction era restrictions a slow process.

        We gun rights folks have been toiling away here for years, and all of the biennial legislative sessions have passed bills advancing our rights, but it’s slow going. Just be thankful we’re one of the only very large states that’s advancing, instead of reversing like CA an NY.

        • In my less charitable moments, I think the Dems here don’t trust minorities with guns. They can see all-white states like Utah allowing guns on campus, but they don’t think that works in a minority-majority state like TX.

          Fortunately, there aren’t many Dems in our legislature now, and the number has been shrinking.

        • @ juliesa

          Sadly, that doesn’t surprise me.

          The Libs always talk out of both sides of their faces. They preach tolerance and concern, but in the end they just want control. The wealthy Libs see minorities as little more than pawns in their power games. Too stupid to trust with their own destinies, but too valuable as uninformed voters to discard.

  26. I know the Open Carry law provided for fines from municipalities with improperly posted 30.06 signs….Does the Campus Carry law contain financial or other penalties for the University systems?

  27. “The main cause of gun killing in the USA, including the state of Texas, is not crime, or gang related murders, is ARGUMENTS: people who are armed and engage in heat-of-the moment disputes.”

    Where does he even get this nonsense. The majority of firearms casualties are suicides. Right of the bat, he’s wrong. Did he just make up that line to fit his preconceived notion of what self-defense proponents are like?

    • Well, it is a bit of a stretch but I suppose you could say that he is right: if “arguments” means some argument (internal or otherwise) eventually drove a person to suicide … and “arguments” over gang turf drove rival gangs to kill each other.

      Nah, never mind. Suicide is suicide and violent criminal gang activity is violent criminal gang activity. Arguments are not the cause of most crimes where an attacker used a firearm.

  28. His rant come down to one issue and one issue only…
    “This law will force universities to spend millions in establishing gun-free spaces, money that should rather be used in salaries, equity, and tenure-track lines”

    Millions spent on gun free spaces? Millions?! How? Are they going to build special “gun free” buildings? Of course if the university had extra millions to spend the ONLY thing it should be spent on would be higher pay for morons like this guy. Tenure lines? Yeah just what this clown needs. A guaranteed position for life that isn’t based on performance or ability. Just his ability to keep his job for x number of years.

  29. this is good. it frees up a lot of money not having to pay salaries for teachers who will not teach. they can use those funds to hire more and younger (and cheaper) replacements. Also, maybe a little diversity play (such as hiring known conservatives). no messy lawsuits claiming discrimination. this is insubordination at its finest. thanks for signing the petition girls.

  30. Another fringe ignoramus getting his 15 minutes, as this is on par with the success of the UT LGBT literature profs’ petition to spark a “mass movement” collecting “nearly 2500” signatures in 4 months out of 50,000+ current students, 24,000+ faculty, and millions of Alumni…this liar has 350(!) pledges out of 24,000+ faculty…

  31. I disagree with Mr. Bonham – only a lawyer or a politician would propose an additional law to solve the problem of disobeying an existing law. If they won’t do the jobs the State pays them to do they get fired, and forfeit any tenure they may have.

    • They always tend to congregate at state capitals so they can be in close proximity to shove more laws down our throats at any opportunity.

    • We know Austin as “Moscow on the Colorado,” located in “The Peoples Socialist Republik of Travis Kounty.”

      • Not to quibble, but it always bothered me, when I lived there calling it “the” Colorado River, having grown up not that far from the headwaters of the real Colorado River (the ne that cut the Grand Canyn, etc.)

  32. I can’t believe these are actually professors let alone teach. If they are anti- concealed carry in the classroom then they are likely anti-concealed carry everywhere.

    1) Students have to be over 21 to conceal carry. These professors make no fuss about 18yr olds being sent off to their death abroad. Nothing wrong with age 21 – I think it should be 18.

    2) if a student got tired of their sh!t and decided to shoot them in the face – a “no guns allowed” sign wouldn’t stop anything at all – as has been proven again and again. If a crazed student was there for them – they will wish that a concealed carrier were close to assist.

    3) A “no guns allowed” sign never put them in control. They were never in control and this law just burst their little bubbles and now they are upset about having to face reality. Instead of sucking it up, they are whining about their bubbles of artificial feelings of safety. News flash professors: A student could gun you down in the parking lot at any time with a break-over single shot rifle. Grow a pair would you.

  33. Mikial wrote on October 8, 2015 at 17:03 hours:

    “That’s actually a really good point. I have heard accounts from other people of how if they unintentionally allowed their concealed handgun to be seen they could be charged. Still, that seems completely at odds with what us non-Texans have as an impression of Texas.”

    The ‘accidental or unintentional display’ of a concealed sidearm was handled back in 2013 by S.B. 299:

    http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/tlodocs/83R/billtext/html/SB00299F.htm

  34. “Reasoned argumentation is the core of university education.”

    As an engineering student, I find that statement hilarious. What kind of bizarre lecture revolves around arguing with your students?

    • Excellent question.

      I guess the kind that supports the ego of the so-called professor.

      Some people just do not do well with facts. 😉

    • In engineering and the hard sciences, argumentation is called an “equation”.

      Over in humanities, they’re stuck with words.

  35. “What are we faculty to do when a student becomes visibly upset after getting a grade and comes to your office to dispute a grade? This law will lead to grade inflation, in addition to higher rates of gun related suicides, accidents, and sexual violence.”
    Wow, this is some sort of…inflation, to be sure. The Good Prof has immediately and irremediably put concealed carry people into the class of stupid, clumsy rapists. Interesting, do we have stats on this New Breed of mensch? Just how much trouble are they getting into? (I know there are smart people out there who got the numbers.)

  36. A bunch of self-righteous blowhards. Because they are professors and used to people actually listening to them, they fail to understand the issue is much MUCH bigger than they are. They are standing in the way of a avalanche.
    Gun control has largely been a galactic failure and they have a snowballs chance in hell of altering the swing of the pendulum.
    Their best bet, shut up and stay out of the way.

  37. These guys are State employees, are they refusing to do their jobs and follow the laws and requirements Texas puts on their schools. I wonder what this D bag thought about Kim Davis supposedly “not doing her job”?

  38. This professor’s statistics have been cooked more thoroughly than my mom’s split pea soup. Let’s look at the truths behind his claims….

    >>>The rhetoric of the supporters of the law insists that gun-free zones need to be eliminated entirely because they are deliberately targeted by mass murderers. Last week’s shooting at Oregon gives the lie to this assumption. Oregon is a campus carry state.>>>

    …And Umpqua Community College exercised its option under state law to make ALL of its buildings “gun free”. While this wasn’t effectively enforced, such a rule is more than sufficient to discourage most people from exercising their rights.

    >>>All actuarial evidence and every epidemiological study show that guns, in and of themselves, increase significantly the statistics on deaths, assaults, and accidents.>>>

    Professor Cañizares-Esguerra has been taken in by the research of Dr. David Hemenway (and his associates), who carefully grooms his statistics to produce anti-gun propaganda. When his studies were reviewed by researchers that weren’t blinded by ideology, they found that the data actually supported the opposite of his claims.

    >>>The murder rate in Texas in the last two years, for example, was 5 times higher than the murder rate in Texas university campuses. Those who really are worried about safety on campuses should then fight to keep campuses gun-free zones, for they currently are SAFER zones from gun-related violence than the rest of the state. >>>

    A non-sequitur. Many other factors influence murder rates, such as the prevalence of alcohol or drug use, the presence of street gangs or other criminal organizations, and economic factors such as poverty. You’re comparing apples and oranges.

    >>> In Utah and Colorado universities, campus rapes went up by a whopping 36 % (Colorado) and 15 % (Utah) after the passing of campus carry (in public spaces, not buildings).>>>

    Professor, you’re apparently unfamiliar with the effects a small sample size can have on a study. The statistics you cite often varied by more than 50% from year to year. This allowed “The Campaign to Keep Guns Off Campus” to cherry pick statistics that supported their claims. Perhaps you’d like to note that campus figures for murder didn’t go up, despite the predictions of anti-gun activists. Unlike you, I wouldn’t recommend those statistics as evidence, because (unlike you) I understand how the numbers of such statistically-rare events can wildly fluctuate.

    >>> This is not a reasonable dispute between two ideologies: gun-free and pro-gun. This is a dispute between FACTS and faith-based ideologues who have no one shred of evidence in their favor. >>>

    Don’t be so hard on yourself: I’ll concede that there are a few decently-designed studies that support your view.

    >>> The main cause of gun killing in the USA, including the state of Texas, is not crime, or gang related murders, is ARGUMENTS: people who are armed and engage in heat-of-the moment disputes.>>>

    It is a complete myth that many murders are committed by ordinary people who “snap” in the heat of the moment or while intoxicated. Crime statistics actually show that the overwhelming majority of murderers (between 80% and 95%, depending on your criteria) have committed multiple violent felonies before they escalate to murder.

    >>>Based on this evidence gathered by the FBI, it is reasonable to assume that guns on campus statistically are a huge threat, regardless of the personal beliefs of law-abiding gun carriers.>>>

    Since people with concealed-carry permits are actually less likely to commit a felony than are police officers, the evidence has again contradicted the professor’s prejudices.

    >>>Since faculty are by and large folks who know the facts they will think twice before engaging in any public argumentation among students who might have arms.>>>

    Professor, your evident ignorance of recent research suggests that this claim is also invalid.

    >>>This law will lead to grade inflation, in addition to higher rates of gun related suicides, accidents, and sexual violence.>>>

    Grade inflation, too? I have to concede that I haven’t seen any studies linking grade inflation to open carry. Professor, please forward your source: It sounds like FASCINATING reading. While you’re at it, you might try to find sources for your statistics that have more solidity than a Mother Jones article or the agitprop of anti-gun groups.

  39. The main cause of gun killing in the USA, including the state of Texas, is not crime, or gang related murders, is ARGUMENTS: people who are armed and engage in heat-of-the moment disputes.

    [Citation Needed]

  40. Could you post a link, or explain where you got this professor’s statement? I’d be interested to see his sources.

  41. “This is a dispute between FACTS and faith-based ideologues who have no one shred of evidence in their favor. And the world looks at us both in disbelief and with disgust that we allow kids and teens be sacrificed in orgies of violence to the gods of the gun manufacturing lobbies every day, in endless liturgies of blood.”

    Claims his side is based in fact. Immediately goes on unhinged rant.

    And these people wonder why gun control is unpopular here…

    • From abroad, the US looks like the same old rough gun-toting place out of the movies – mentality reminds of Europe in the Thirty Years War. Get guns, kill each other.

  42. Letting them protest could present an amazing opportunity…albeit the air-traffic controller strike in the 1980s. A great many pompous pricks thinking they constituted the system were ultimately fired by President Reagan for refusing to cease their strike and return to work. Granted, these were federal employees, but why why would it be any different for state employees? Flushing these liberal elitists out of academia sounds just fine with me!

    • Has any premeditated shooting, anywhere, involved a licensed permit holder? You’d have to have a microscope to find the number of times that’s happened.

    • Bingo.

      I’d like to see someone put out some actual, sourcable, hard stats on it, but I strongly suspect that they would show that the chances of being killed on a college campus by a student with a CHL (which has never happened, to my knowledge) are less than getting killed by a humanities professor (which, unfortunately, has happened).

  43. Science, statistics, sociology, in academia all demand that theories be tested before being accepted as fact. This is your opportunity to test your asinine theories, professor. The truth is, there will be no grade inflation or worse. At least, that’s my theory. Ideally, there would be more people losing their jobs. That’s also a fantastic theory. That people refusing to do the job they are paid for under the system that pays them to do it, lose their jobs.

  44. Do you need stats? I need none. Try to murder 30 people with arrows, or with a knife. Then try with a gun. Result? Obvious. Gun wins, it’s designed for this. Only freaks try to argue with this.

    Then check out rates of mass murder in various countries, plus their gun laws. It is always the same result: We live more secure in the developed world, where there are no guns allowed except with a special license.

  45. Jorge Cañizares-Esguerra
    Alice Drysdale Sheffield Professor of History University of Texas at Austin Is a moron if he believes that we do not have the right to protect ourselves. I am calling you out you loser.

    No double standards put DC politicians on Obamacare and SS.Thanks for your support and vote.Pass the word. mrpresident2016.com

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