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“Campus carry could hurt Texas universities’ ability to recruit and retain quality faculty, and could drive up tuition, University of Texas System Chancellor William McRaven said in a letter sent to state representatives a day before the legislation hits the House floor for debate,” chron.com reports. Could. How many times have we heard gun rights opponents Chicken Little legislation seeking to restore Americans’ natural, civil and Constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms? Every time. This time, the UT jefe wants lawmakers to believe that “allowing” campus carry would discourage qualified teaching candidates from applying for employment within the system. In fact . . .

that’s a good thing not a bad thing. Any aspiring educator who can’t understand the words “shall not be infringed” in the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution should not be entrusted with our children’s education. And that’s all I’ve got to say on that front.

In his letter, McRaven also reiterated concerns about the cost of implementing the legislation, which the Chronicle reported could cost the state’s public universities more than $47 million over six years to update security systems, build gun storage facilities and bolster campus police units.

Another could! It could also cost $50m! $60m! Or $150. I mean, what updates to the campus’ security systems are required exactly? Gun storage facilities? The Providence Police Department offers visitors the same tiny lockers you’ll find at a public ice skating rink – with no supervision whatsoever. Bolstering campus police units? Yeah, that doesn’t sound like make-work for boys to me. Much.

Anyway, SB11 has passed the Texas State Senate. If it passes the House on Tuesday it goes to Governor Abbott for his John Hancock.

Meanwhile, in case you missed the pic above, McRaven’s “best known for leading the raid that killed Osama bin Laden during his tenure as the head of U.S. Special Operations Command”? Amazing how someone can go from a warrior to a worrier in such a short time. [h/t James]

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86 COMMENTS

  1. Campus carry could hurt Texas universities’ ability to recruit and retain liberal professors. Which is the only kind we hire these days. There – I fixed it.

    This guy seemed kinda like a political tool when he was running CentCom. Not surprised.

    He’s a guy who rose to flag rank in the most politicized military ever. Patton would have been relieved as a second lieutenant if he were in today. You be the judge.

    • Remember, he sat in a command room with the POTUS; he was not on site when the seals did the raid. And don’t get me started about how we were sold a bill of goods to boost the POTUS’s ratings just when he needed it most. Break into a house after trying for 45 minutes after crashing your helo in the yard, then using a shotgun to blow the face off a tall guy in a turbin and then quickly dump him in the sea so no one can disputed his identity and then kill 22 of the team members a month later by sending them into a hot zone in Afghanistan. Need I continue or do you still believe in the tooth fairy.

    • Exactly. Now the university will actually have to hire professors who believe in liberty, not servitude.

      • There were officers on the raid. They will just be passed up for promotion and released from government employment into a market more conductive to free thinkers that get things done.

  2. Too bad, Admiral, it looks as if it’s going to pass this time. *knocks on wood, flips him the bird* I don’t like to to be rude to this highly accomplished man, but he doesn’t respect my rights.

    • @Juliesa–“I don’t like to to be rude to this highly accomplished man” He deserves no respect for his past deeds if he is so easily able to go against the oath, that has an expiration date of death to true American Patriots. This type of officer would follow any order given to him by his political superiors, and honor, bravery, and integrity are just words on unearned citations.
      Maam or Ms-this person is a prime example of why when I meet non-combat veterans that I say thanks for having honor and courage while you served, and hopefully it stayed with you. This man betraying the Constitution and his fellow citizens so willingly as a citizen himself, makes you wonder what kind of military man he was because he is not much of a citizen. I shake the hand of Combat veterans that have been in combat and have no issue with their past duty, since these are the men who experienced mortal combat and fought for an honorable peace, which is why war is supposed to be fought.

    • This tyrant deserves absolutely zero respecr. He should get. nothing from an American Citizen except contempt. He spits on the memory of all people’s everywhere that gave their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor in the defense of freedom.

    • Piss on his respect for my rights. I know for a fact that man swore an oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, both foreign and domestic. I will never respect a man who so blithely violates an oath freely taken, no matter what his excuse. If you refuse to protect and defend, seems to me the least you could do is STFU.

    • Looks to me like he went from McRaven to MaCraven. Kudos to Mr. Sharp, the distinction between Ags and Tea-sips has never been more acute. And no, I’m not an Ag, I actually went to law school at UT-Austin.

  3. Uh what is the “gun storage facility” all about?? The issue is campus CARRY, not campus leave-it-where-some-maniac-can-get-it.

  4. McCRaven’s statements regarding Barry Sotero being “Presidential” and “…the smartest guy in the room” should forever disqualify him and everyone in that room from holding employment in both the public and private sector.

  5. Has McRaven forgotten how UT students assisted the police when Charles Whitman went up in the tower and shot up the Campus? Why were college students responsible enough to have guns on campus in 1964 but aren’t now?

  6. If this law actually frightens away Marxist professors from UT, that fact alone makes it a must-have. Sorry, Craven (sic), like all top brass you are nothing more than an Obama-culo-kissing politician.

  7. Yeah, because Oregon, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Mississippi, Wisconsin, and Idaho have seen their campuses run red with blood since they’ve allowed campus carry and it’s impossible to hire or retain professors in all of those states.

    This guy is a tool spouting lies and unproven “facts.” He’s already admitted that Obama is smarter than he is.

  8. Oh, *HELL* yes. Any self-important assholes who seek to dictate the agenda of the university even before being hired, just go away, far away, and don’t come back. Why is anybody even listening to this imbecile? Oh. I see. So, will he quit, then, or do we have to fire him?

  9. How many Admirals and Generals have been drunks, perverts, racists, mentally deranged and incompetent? Wearing a military uniform does not imbue the individual with any special human qualities.

    Those who PROVE their being worthy of their oath are the only ones I respect. Proof by deed. He just dropped down on my scale of respect. He didn’t write the Constitution or Bill of Rights last I checked. It was the Founding Fathers. A brilliant and freedom loving collection of Patriots. They set the bar Admiral. And they acknowledged that MY GOD granted my rights.

    • As a retired military officer, I will attempt to describe the officer corps. There are a bunch who are there because they wish to be generals and rule the world. There are a bunch who are there because they are suicidal idiots (like me) who want the adventure of launching out to fight and kill and die, at our country’s behest. It should come as no surprise that, after 20 years, the generals largely come from the first group, professional “soldiers” rather than battle-tested wild men, they spent their careers in the pentagon instead of Vietnam, Saudi, whatever. And they were exactly “right”, they were promoted and the warriors were not. And they dictate to their betters how those warriors have to toe the bureaucratic line in order to have any say whatsoever. And that is how the system is *supposed* to operate, as of now.

      When a real war shows up, things change rather quickly, as the bureaucrats look for someone, anyone, with combat experience. Eisenhower went from a Lieutenant Colonel with no future to a 5-star general in less than 4 years.

      • Actually, Eisenhower had no combat experience, ever. Reportedly, he once said that he would trade all of his medals for a Combat Infantry Badge. Still, an admirable man, general, and president.

        • I should have said leadership experience, and I think he’d been passé over for O-6.

    • Maybe McRaven didn’t write the Constitution or the Bill of Rights, but the guy who’s considered the Father of the Constitution (and most responsible for authoring the Second Amendment) agreed with him. From the minutes of the Virginia House of Delegates, here he is reporting on the condition of UVa and reaffirming the policy of the school’s Founder, Thomas Jefferson:

      “No student shall, within the precincts of the University, introduce, keep or use weapons or arms of any kind, or gun-powder; nor keep a servant, horse or dog.”

      JAMES MADISON, Rector [president]
      December, 1826

      Anyway, that’s the real truth about guns.

      • No *DOG*? WTF was he thinking? Seriously, I have no problem with that, as long as the students are advised of those rules before they commit their money. However, note that is a university rule for its students, not a law. If you violate it and are caught, you may be disciplined by the university. Not jailed or fined by the state or federal government.

  10. Campus carry will delay the US getting men to Mars. Campus carry will cause the sky to fall.
    Campus carry will make all them women in Mothers Demand Action SMART!

  11. Campus carry would hurt liberal teacher recruiting.

    Bolster campus police?? For what, they will have much less to do!

    The truth about university chancellors is that they have form letter on their desk:

    [Major legislative initiative] will cost $47 {+/-} million, send more money now.

    … because raising money is primarily what they do.

  12. During the House Homeland Security and Public Safety Committee hearings on HB937, Chair Phillips pretty much called BS on these “security and storage” costs that the universities were throwing around. The manic moms alleged that campus carry would kill people, because money that should be used on cancer research would be diverted to meet the security and storage requirements, since MD Anderson in Houston is comingled with the UT teaching hospital. There are no storage requirements now, why would it create any new ones? As he said, when agencies can’t find a compelling reason against legislation, they try to make it appear prohibitively expensive…and he wasn’t buying it.

    I look at it this way…just like the debate on reducing the Hazelwood benefits for veterans. It may be costing the universities money, but perhaps if they can pay a football coasch several million a year, or a PHD half a million, then perhaps our then they can bear some of the burden. This doesn’t cost them anything new. It’s a BS argument.

  13. Could also increase the incidence of athelete’s foot and dental decay. He forgot those 2 in his fantasy.

  14. Admiral William McRaven told us everything we need to know about him in his statement

    The President was at all times presidential. I would contend he was the smartest guy in the room. He had leadership skills we’d expect from a guy who had 35 years in the military.

    Clearly, Admiral McRaven is nothing more than a giant @$$ kisser. We should view anything he says in that light.

    • Yep, the smartest man in the room, who has never released his transcripts. Bush, for all his faults, did. Speaks volumes.

    • If he was the “smartest man in the room” that also speaks volumes about the intelligence of everyone else in the room.

  15. I spent 24 years defending my country. I remember the sacrifices of others who came before me and I support the Constitution. Why doesn’t Mr McRaven?

    • Because there’s more in it for him not to?

      Sorry … Today of all days, a little more cynical than usual.

      And for all of those who are or have served their country, thank you.

  16. it would only hurt recruiting of other simple minded, mush brain, cowardly drones like currently make-up the faculty.

    isn’t it ironic that someone who so reveres valor, honor and leadership voluntarily sits at the head of one of the most cowardly, dishonorable and sheep-like organizations in the country?

    rf: thanx again for publishing the picture of yet another person who does not deserve defending if receiving serious bodily injury or threat of death.

    • And the REAL pain in the butt is that the head of TX A&M could just about be said to be campaigning for the bill, thinks it’s a wonderful idea. I have no idea what he did in the service, but he’s my kind of man, makes this doofus look like, um, a doofus!

  17. Campus Carry will prevent only the recruitment of special snowflake social justice warriors who believe they “have the right to feel safe”.
    Since these are the very kind of people currently destroying American higher education, it sounds like a win all around.

  18. Will it hurt recruiting?

    Or will some teachers simply start arbitrarily failing students whom they think are carrying in class?

  19. Slightly off topic, but only slightly.

    Let us also not forget General George Casey, Chief of Staff of the Army, who,
    after a well known incident of “work place violence” (13 killed and 29 wounded)
    at a similarly disarmed facility, said:

    “real tragedy” would be harming the cause of diversity, saying, “As great a tragedy as this was, it would be a shame if our diversity became a casualty as well.”[164] Several months later, in a February 2010 interview, Casey said, “Our diversity—not only in our Army, but in our country, is a strength. And as horrific as this tragedy was, if our diversity becomes a casualty, I think that’s worse.”[165]
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nidal_Malik_Hasan

  20. The job market is so crappy in academia, UT could pave the faculty parking lot in broken glass, and they would still have no problem recruiting top-notch faculty.

    • +1. And those who don’t get tenure or otherwise wash out at UT will probably claim this was the “real” reason they left.

      McRaven is smart enough to know that what he’s peddling is complete hooey. My guess is that he’s doing this as a sop to the pearl clutchers on the faculty, because he knows it’ll pass anyway.

  21. The only states with real campus carry are Utah, Idaho, and Colorado. In those states it is forced policy. In other states public universities are “allowed” to set whatever policy they wish. Which in practice is ALWAYS banning guns. Even in the three states that force campus carry there are limitations. For example, the University of Idaho is allowed to ban all guns from all dormitories and in-campus housing. So a student cannot keep a gun on campus and cannot live on campus and be armed. But with 47 states with no campus carry (and Colorado being pretty unattractive to gun enthusiasts these days), I submit that any pro-gun state that enacts campus carry will benefit from increased student interest from gun owners, who will be funneled to one of those states if they’re committed to bringing their guns with them to campus. I know because I am currently applying to colleges to continue to pursue my education and gun rights are a top priority for me. When researching universities to attend as a student the first states I look at are Utah and Idaho, because in those states I can exercise my Second Amendment rights as a student.

    • Consider continuing your education by reading DC v Heller, in which the Court reaffirmed its respect for “…laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings…”. Also read my post (above or below) wherein I reference the prohibitions on campus firearms signed by both Jefferson and Madison (who essentially authored the Second Amendment).

      There have been at least ten accidental discharges related to concealed carriers on campus, with 7 of those occurring in 4 of the early adopter states (Idaho, Utah, Colorado, Mississippi). Expect this to increase as the activity increases. If you do take your gun to school, be especially careful getting in and out of cars, going to the bathroom, and clearing the weapon before stowing it. These are probably the greatest risks you will face, considering that it’s statistically more likely you’ll be struck by lightning than ever kill a bad guy.

      • You might wish to consider my response to one of those, as per Jefferson and Madison, it was a university policy imposed on *students*, not a law, and unenforceable on legal carriers other than students, including in buildings and parks, etc. Now, most students are prohibited because they are too young to have a handgun or a CHL according to today’s laws, not true back then.

  22. I deal with a lot of flag officers on a daily basis. Most of them are basically narcissistic tools.

    Being in the military doesn’t automatically make you a great person. I know from personal experience.

  23. Maybe we would finally get professors who care about teaching instead of those who only care about tenure.

  24. “The President was at all times presidential,” he says. “I would contend he was the smartest guy in the room. He had leadership skills we’d expect from a guy who had 35 years in the military.”

    Is this quote accurate? Is it by McRaven or about him? Did he really say Obama was the smartest man in the room and did he give Obama credit for having 35 years in the military? I’m so confused.

    • No, McRaven was saying that we normally expect great leadership skills only from someone with 35 years service as a military officer. I’ve known a number of career flag officers, but known more people who have built and led businesses. It’s the business folks that have the leadership skills. They don’t have contractual slaves working for them, and they usually cannot ruin the careers of underlings simply because it amuses them. Business leaders have to deserve good employees, have to attract them by the culture of the company. That simply isn’t the case with the military, in which there is always another wave of junior officers after one fires the first wave. The victories chalked up by the admirals and generals were, in my experience, achieved by the enlisted ranks, NCO’s and company-grade officers. Good admirals don’t forget it. I’m sure there are those who disagree. The politicians, for example, like to steer all the glory to the current rank of flag officers that they themselves promoted….because the kisses felt so good…and they’re hoping for more.

      • The comment was accurate. However, McRaven was not implying that he thought Obama had military experience, just saying that Obama was so good it was as if he’d had 35 years mil experience. And the comment was, of course, blather.

        All the major universities are just trying to hire a chancellor/president well-known enough such that rich people will take their calls and provide financial and other support. Obviously.

        • No one thinks McRaven was implying Obama had military experience. Nowhere did he say that. He was using an analogy.

        • If that’s the way he feels, he never got any leadership experience in the military, so he can’t recognize its lack.

        • Danny, J was specifically asking if McRaven might have been saying he thought O had the 35 years. I quote J: “and did he give Obama credit for having 35 years in the military? ” I was just explaining that I did not think that’s what McRaven was doing.

  25. This military man is not a supporter of the us constitution. He lied when he swore his oath to defend it. Very few in the military are like him. He uses his uniform to fool the less educated. But as a person in charge of a university he is very dangerous. A Rouge police officer effects only the people they directly encounter. A college president controls the future of thousands.

    The oath keepers and bundy ranch supporters are mostly former military. They are the kind of people the government fears. They are the reason the founders wrote the Constitution the way they did.

  26. Golly. You say, “Any aspiring educator who can’t understand the words “shall not be infringed” in the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution should not be entrusted with our children’s education.” Well, what about these two educators from the so-called University of Virginia? (One of them claims to have “written” the Second Amendment.)

    “No Student shall, within the precincts of the University, introduce, keep or use any spirituous/ or vinous liquors, keep or use weapons or arms of any kind, or gunpowder, keep a servant, horse or dog, appear in school with a stick, or any weapon, nor, while in school, be covered without permission of the Professor, nor use tobacco by smoking or chewing, on pain of any of the minor punishments at the discretion of the Faculty, or of the board of Censors, approved by the Faculty.”

    Th: Jefferson Rector.
    October 5th 1824.

    “No student shall, within the precincts of the University, introduce, keep or use weapons or arms of any kind, or gun-powder; nor keep a servant, horse or dog.”

    JAMES MADISON, Rector
    December, 1826

    • Ahhhh, so there are limits on the Second Amendment?

      Actually, no….

      The constitution and all 10 of the amendments were designed to constrain the central/federal government (and to keep the states from warring against each other). States were allowed wide latitude in how they conducted affairs internally. Remember, it was not the governments of the colonies that were rebelled against; it was the central, imperial government in England. Even after the constitution was originally ratified, there was a legitimate theocracy in Rhode Island.

      Or maybe, yes….

      At the founding, the supreme court (small letters intentional) was not considered superior to Congress and the President. Don’t remember the actual date, but it was decades before the supreme court ruled that all federal laws (ie, the constitution and all legislation) applied equally to the individual states. Thus, any state could regulate its own militia, and its own gun laws. Notice that in the constitution, there are many references to “congress shall make no…”, but no prohibition on the states doing that which was not permitted by the federal government (thus the notion that the authorities not spelled-out in the constitution were reserved to the individual states. So,…..

      The state and university of Virginia could pass whatever regulations it saw fit regarding gun possession. Only after the supreme court ruled that all federal laws applied to the state was it possible to pass and enforce federal legislation/law concerning restrictions on guns. Now, it is impossible for states to disregard restrictions on federal (government) rules of gun possession.

      On a related note (constitution), enemies of this nation love to stuff “separation of church and state” down our throats by declaring “Congress shall make no law regarding the establishment of religion…”, they never allow discussion of the rest of the sentence, “….or the free practice thereof”. The ACLU should be leading legal action against the federal government for violating the “free exercise” provision.

      But I digress….

    • I wouldn’t want to so much as apply to a university that disallowed servants. How do people live in conditions like that?

    • Accentuate the word “student, student!, STUDENT!” Absolutely nothing to do with 2A, no matter how much you wish it to be so.

  27. Think it is great that some teachers would not want to work there with campus carry. Because they are exactly the kind of teachers we don’t want teaching the next generation of leaders. Everything else he said are scare tactics with no basis in fact. Made up solely for the purpose of trying to prevent campus carry. Why is a former soldier against this ? Seems he has turned into a scared child. Must be the politics of his job now.

  28. This assclown is a disgrace to the US Navy in general and the US Navy SEALs in particular. In fact, I’d love to hear what the guys who served with him on the teams have to say about him.

    But he was an admiral. And one only gets stars on their collar by being a politician first and soldier second.

    -ex-Navy FC3(SW)

  29. The USN has changed much since I was in. This clown should get together with a certain “Uncle Fester looking captain”. I’ve heard guys like this make awesome pivot men. Lower than whale sh!t, a couple of soup sandwiches, a pair of football bats. These guys swore to protect our country, but instead disgrace the uniform and crap on the Constitution.

  30. People who are afraid of inanimate objects and can’t grasp the simple idea that a criminal doesn’t give a damn about what a sign says are not people I want teaching me, and considering I’m still taking college classes, I call that relevant.

  31. Most educators that I have met are anal-retentive and remarkably closed minded, so his inane statements are of no surprise to me. Stunning how he swims in his ignorance though. Campus carry would be extremely beneficial to women, who seem to be easy target because the criminals know they can’t defend themselves. Perhaps when this educator’s daughter is brutally raped on campus, he’ll change his outlook.

  32. Why do you need to pay for “gun storage facilities” if carry is allowed? Isn’t your “gun storage facility” a sturdy belt?

  33. Every very large university seems to be seeking a chancellor/president with strong Washington connections, and for obvious reasons. “‘Cause that’s where the money is” once they take it from us or just print computer dollars and sell some corresponding bonds, debt.

    What makes me uncomfortable is that a large esteemed university is now being run by a person who was an undergraduate journalism major, and then went on to have a stellar career leading organizations devoted to “direct action,” running or swimming in, killing people, then running or choppering out. This is liberal academia? No. We are seeing the big universities fall into the “state above all” mindset. Since federal workers have the same sort of job protection that professors do….I suppose it all makes sense.

  34. This is a huge benefit, if you ask me. It’s like an automatic idiot detector, weeding out potential professors who would be the same old braindead activists.

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