FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 01/17/2017

CONTACT:
Brian Bensimon, Southwest Regional Director, SCC: brian.bensimon@concealedcampus.org
Michael Newbern, Assistant Director of Public Relations, SCC: michael.newbern@concealedcampus.org

In Editorial Against Campus Carry, L.A. Times Can't Stay on Topic

AUSTIN, TX In a January 17 editorial titled "Allowing concealed weapons on college campuses is a silly, and dangerous,
idea," the editorial board of the Los Angeles Times seems unclear as to what exactly they're opposing. They use the
opportunity to rail against civilian ownership of "military-style firearms," to decry the nation's problem with mass
shootings, and to argue that firearms make domestic disputes more dangerous.
The editorial opens by suggesting that college is "a time of boundary-testing, experimentation and alcohol-fueled
parties." We in the Texas chapter of Students for Concealed Carry can't speak to what goes on at UCLA and Berkeley, but
we can honestly say we've never seen an alcohol-fueled party in a college library, lecture hall, laboratory, or cafeteria
here in Texas. Maybe students regularly roam the hallowed halls of Cal State with six-packs of beer and fifths of vodka,
but here in Texas, such activities are typically relegated to fraternity houses, bars, tailgating events, and off-campus
parties, none of which are impacted by the state's campus carry law.
In reference to Texas law, the Times writes, "With no apparent sense of irony, lawmakers made the effective date of the
law Aug. 1, 2016, the 50th anniversary of the incident in which Marine-trained sniper [sic] Charles Whitman climbed to
the top of the University of Texas at Austin clock tower and, over a period of more than 90 minutes, killed 13 people and
wounded more than 30 others in what is considered the nations first campus mass killing [links in original]."
With no apparent sense of irony, the editorial board links the UT-Austin gunmans name to Pamela Colloff's excellent
August 2006 Texas Monthly article "96 Minutes," which includes a number of eyewitness accounts of how armed
bystanders saved lives by returning fire during the 1966 sniper attack at the University of Texas at Austin.
Absent any clear direction, the editorial continues, "As the nation has learned so painfully, there is little that can be done
once someone has armed himself and it is almost always a him and starts shooting up a school or a workplace or a
neighborhood, intending to kill as many people as possible. Lax gun control and the pernicious influence of the NRA
have made access to military-style firearms far too easy, thus making people with a violent impulse born of mental
illness, anger or an insatiable grudge all the more deadly [link in original]."
Is the Times arguing that a license to carry makes a person more likely to or capable of carrying out a mass shooting or
that a person with a license to carry has little chance of stopping a mass shooting? The point isn't entirely clear, but both
possibilities are born out of flawed reasoning and bogus statistics. The Times can't point to a single resulting assault,
suicide attempt, or fatality on a college campus that allows the licensed concealed carry of handguns. It's doubtful they
can point to a single public mass shooting anywhere that was somehow facilitated by lawful, licensed concealed carry.
The suggestion that the primary purpose of campus carry is the prevention of mass shootings is a straw man argument.
The primary purpose of campus carry is to ensure that licensed adults enjoy the same measure of personal protection on
campus that they already enjoy off campus. Despite the claims of gun control activists with a penchant for torturing
false confessions out of numbers, the reality is that very few mass shootings have occurred in locations where licensed
concealed carry was generally allowed, and even fewer have involved armed license to carry holders being on scene at
the time of the shooting. The closest gun control activists can point to are a couple of incidents in which armed citizens
were nearby at the time and/or rushed to the scene after the shooting began.
When one hears survivors of the Virginia Tech massacre recount spending five minutes on the phone with a 911
operator before being shot or seeing the gunman stop to reload or watching a professor sacrifice his life by barricading a
classroom door with his body, it's hard to believe that no scenario exists in which a licensed individual with a handgun

could have defended himself or herself. The idea that nothing can be done once the shooting starts is wishful thinking
on the part of ideologues who desperately need to believe that possessing a firearm can only make things worse.
After citing a few statistics on the annual number of gun deaths in America and making the typical straw man arguments
about how campus carry doesn't lower crime rates (a claim not found in any of SCC's literature), the Times argues,
"Studies have found a correlation between higher statewide restrictions on access to guns and lower levels of gun
violence in those states." While that may be true, it should be noted that those studies did not find a correlation
between higher statewide restrictions on access to guns and lower levels of homicide/gun homicide in those states. The
correlation between gun laws and gun deaths is entirely dependent on suicides, which almost always occur in the
victims home, where campus carry has little or no impact.
Furthermore, there is a big difference between overall restrictions on access to guns and the laws governing licensed
concealed carry. Given that Texas license to carry holders commit violent crimes at approximately 1/5 the rate of the
general population and have traditionally committed so few crimes as to make no statistical impact on Texas' overall
crime rates, the evidence does not support the assertion that licensed concealed carry somehow makes a state more
dangerous.
The editorial concludes by pointing to studies showing that women involved in violent relationships are more likely to be
murdered if there is a gun in the home and by citing U.S. Supreme Court interpretations of the Second Amendment,
neither of which has much to do with the question of whether licensed, vetted adults should be allowed the same
measure of personal protection on college campuses that they're already allowed virtually everywhere else.
The truth is that, just as licensed concealed carry has been a non-issue in the states that allow it, campus carry has been
a non-issue on the campuses that allow it. However, because it offends the cultural prejudices held by the editorial
board of the L.A. Times, they felt compelled to cobble together a condescending, unfocused screed against it. Thankfully,
their brand of small-minded bigotry holds little sway in the Lone Star State.
###
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. For more information on the
debate over campus carry in Texas, visit WhyCampusCarry.com.
RELATED:
"A Refresher on the Case for Campus Carry in Texas": http://concealedcampus.org/2016/05/a-refresher-on-the-casefor-campus-carry-in-texas/
SCCs Oct. 2, 2015 Jan. 12, 2017, Texas press releases and op-eds:
https://www.scribd.com/document/319141232/Texas-Students-for-Concealed-Carry-Campus-Carry-Press-Releases-OpEds-Oct-2-2015-Jan-12-2017
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
All SCC statements regarding the campus carry policies proposed by UT-Austin:
https://www.scribd.com/document/317821607/Texas-Students-for-Concealed-Carry-Press-Releases-Regarding-UTAustin-s-Campus-Carry-Policies
RECENT ARTICLES ABOUT CAMPUS CARRY IN TEXAS:

"WT transitions smoothly to first semester of campus carry" - Amarillo Globe-News - Dec. 19, 2016
"No gun related incidents reported at UTEP since SB11 went into effect" - KFOX 14 - Oct. 24, 2016
"Midwestern State encouraged by early results of campus carry policy" - KAUZ - Oct. 19, 2016
"Campus carry off to quiet start" - Denton Record-Chronicle - Oct. 15, 2016
"The Beginning of Campus Carry: As a Texas student affected by the law, I never wouldve imagined how much my
opinion has changed" - Study Breaks - Sept. 21, 2016