TexasCHLforum.com

Senator Watson,

Recently it came to my attention that you are opposed to campus carry after having spoken with university presidents, chancellors and student government associations.

Perhaps my experience as a staff member at a state university might inform your view in a way that you haven't yet been exposed to. I am a 65 year old Navy veteran and a longtime University employee. I hold a CHL and carry a gun with me every day. I pray that I never have to use it to shoot another human being, but I do not wish to be helpless in the face of violence.

Unfortunately, although the state trusts me to carry a gun almost everywhere I go, one place I am not allowed to carry is in my workplace. For some reason the legislature saw fit to make a perfectly arbitrary decision to deny me the right of self defense while working.

Data collected since the adoption of the CHL laws show that CHL holders are 15 times less likely to commit a crime than the average Texas citizen. We are even less likely to commit a crime than members of law enforcement. Yet for some reason, when we cross the threshold of a building at a university, we are not to be trusted.

I know the fear mongers talk about immature students brandishing weapons at the first sign of conflict, but the fact is most undergraduates aren't even eligible to carry weapons at all, much less carry them to school. The ones who do anyway are lawbreakers and would be unaffected by any change to the law.

Since you've taken the time to poll the powers that be, I would respectfully request that you do the same with university employees who hold CHL licenses before you foreclose the possibility of voting for the right to carry on campus.

Thank you for your time,