FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – 04/01/2019

CONTACT:
Michael Newbern, Assistant Director of Public Relations, SCC: michael.newbern@concealedcampus.org

Texas Students for Concealed Carry Opposes HB 1236 and HB 2280

AUSTIN, TEXAS – The Texas chapter of Students for Concealed Carry strongly opposes Texas House Bill 1236, which
would allow public colleges to opt out of the state’s campus-carry law, and Texas House Bill 2280, which would reduce
the statutory size and language requirements for criminally enforceable “gun-free” signs. Both bills were authored by
freshman Representative Vikki Goodwin (D, Austin) and are scheduled for a public hearing on April 3.

HB 1236:

After 970 days of campus carry at Texas’ 38 public universities and 605 days of campus carry at Texas’ 82 public two-
year colleges (125 campuses), not one of these institutions has reported a resulting fatality, injury, suicide attempt,
assault, or incident of a weapon being brandished in anger. Despite a few initial protests, most students and
administrators report that campus life quickly returned to normal.

Now, when opponents attempt to resurrect the debate over Texas’ campus-carry law, the most they can point to are a
pair of negligent discharges in dorm rooms—both of which occurred more than eighteen months ago and resulted in no
injuries—and a couple of incidents of handguns being left in campus restrooms.

SCC noted in February 2017 that, on most university campuses, a dorm room is the only location with even a moderate
risk of an accidental or negligent discharge. Such incidents almost always occur during the handling of an unholstered
handgun (particularly during loading/unloading), and the only place on campus where a license to carry (LTC) holder
might have reason to handle an unholstered handgun is in a dorm room, where the license holder might need to unload
his or her gun to secure it (e.g., if preparing to place the gun in checked baggage for air travel) or to perform routine
maintenance on it. SCC has long acknowledged that dorms pose a special concern and has never objected to universities
enacting special rules for dorms. However, such concerns in no way necessitate a campus-wide ban on campus carry.

Because college campuses host relatively few young children, guns in restrooms pose less of a threat on campus
than in most other locations (e.g., movie theaters, shopping malls, churches, state museums, municipal libraries,
and the Texas Capitol) where licensed concealed carry is allowed. Leaving a firearm in a public restroom is
inexcusable; however, suggesting that such incidents pose a serious threat to campus safety strains credulity.

Texas has seen none of the bloodshed predicted by opponents of campus carry. Nationwide, more than 350 college
campuses allow the licensed, concealed carry of handguns and have done so for a combined total of approximately
2,500 (biannual) semesters, with zero reports of resulting deaths, assaults, or suicide attempts. There is no justification
for suggesting that public colleges, unlike every other state facility in Texas, should be allowed to “opt out” of state law
and arbitrarily criminalize concealed carry.

HB 2280:

In the two years and eight months since Texas’ campus-carry law took effect, public colleges have repeatedly abused the
“reasonable rules” provision by dubiously posting 30.06 (“gun-free”) signs in locations such as on-campus dining halls
and on-campus museums. Now, one lawmaker wants to make such signs smaller and easier to post. Disturbingly, this
would also make these signs easier for LTC holders to miss.

Gun-control groups make absurd claims about the state’s statutory signage requirements; however, the statute does not
require compliant signs to be large or obtrusive and does not need to be changed.
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ABOUT STUDENTS FOR CONCEALED CARRY — Students for Concealed Carry (SCC) is a national, non-partisan, grassroots
organization comprising college students, faculty, staff, and concerned citizens who believe that holders of state-issued
concealed handgun licenses should be allowed the same measure of personal protection on college campuses that
current laws afford them virtually everywhere else. SCC is not affiliated with the NRA or any other organization. For
more information on SCC, visit ConcealedCampus.org or Facebook.com/ConcealedCampus.

RELATED:

"TXSCC’s Notes on 'The Growing Crisis of Guns on Campus'": https://www.scribd.com/document/403649667/TXSCC-s-

Notes-on-The-Growing-Crisis-of-Guns-on-Campus

"Texas Students for Concealed Carry Endorses Texas HB 316/SB 1573":

https://www.scribd.com/document/403650052/Texas-Students-for-Concealed-Carry-Endorses-Texas-HB-316-SB-1573

"Federal appeals court upholds Texas campus carry law": https://www.texastribune.org/2018/08/16/appeals-court-

rejects-texas-campus-carry-lawsuit/

"Student Activists Must Learn to Be Students of the Issues They Address":

http://concealedcampus.org/2018/08/student-activists-must-learn-to-be-students-of-the-issues-they-address/

"Texas’ Campus Carry Law Turns Two": http://concealedcampus.org/2018/07/texas-campus-carry-law-turns-two/

"Texas Legislative Candidate/Former Professor Omits Important Facts": https://www.ammoland.com/2018/07/texas-

legislative-candidate-former-professor-omits-important-facts/#axzz5M150Mn96

"Everytown for Gun Safety Continues to Ignore the Facts": http://concealedcampus.org/2018/05/everytown-for-gun-

safety-continues-to-ignore-the-facts/

"Students For Concealed Carry Lash Out At Repeated Claims Of Astroturf": https://bearingarms.com/tom-
k/2018/04/18/students-concealed-carry-lash-repeated-claims-astroturf/

SCC's Amicus Brief in Glass v. Paxton (U.S. Fifth Circuit): https://www.ammoland.com/2018/02/scc-sccf-file-amicus-

brief-u-texas-professors-campus-carry-suit/#axzz5CzmeJ49g

"What ‘Rolling Stone’ Got Wrong About the 'Fight Over Guns on Campus'": http://concealedcampus.org/2017/03/what-
rolling-stone-got-wrong-about-the-fight-over-guns-on-campus/

"Johns Hopkins Report on Campus Carry Is Seriously Flawed": http://concealedcampus.org/2016/11/johns-hopkins-

report-on-campus-carry-is-seriously-flawed/

"A Refresher on the Case for Campus Carry in Texas": http://concealedcampus.org/2016/05/a-refresher-on-the-case-

for-campus-carry-in-texas/

SCC’s Oct. 2, 2015 – Aug. 1, 2017, Texas press releases and op-eds:
https://www.scribd.com/document/319141232/Texas-Students-for-Concealed-Carry-Campus-Carry-Press-Releases-Op-
Eds-Oct-2-2015-Aug-1-2017

SCC's 2015 Texas legislative handout (includes Dec. 9 - May 22, 2015, press releases and op-eds):
https://www.scribd.com/document/255815743/SCC-s-2015-Texas-Legislative-Handout