My Op-Ed in Today's Houston Chronicle

[Douva]

Op-ed: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/edi ... 39700.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Source citations: http://www.campuscarry.com/pdf/Conceale ... OTATED.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[WildBill]

Congratulations on your piece. Well done.

[Hoi Polloi]

Very well written! Succinct and hits all the points in a reasoned and readable way. Good job!

[OldCannon]

For those of you that have Facebook accounts, share that article and let's get Scott's VERY eloquent writing in front of as many eyes as we can. I'm sure all my anti-gun friends on FB are squirming right now (sadly,I have far more anti-gun friends than pro-gun friends on FB -- I gotta change that [facebook.com/dweller if it matters to ya )

[philip964]

excellent writing

[RHenriksen]

Read that this morning - I was pleasantly surprised to see it get such prominent placement in the Op-Ed section, and impressed with your writing. Good job!

[Teamless]

shared on my Facebook Account

[Purplehood]

Extremely well-written and thoughtfully laid out article.

The following statement did leave me with a need for a little more explanation:

If there are concerns about the vulnerability of dorms to theft, those concerns can be addressed without maintaining a campuswide ban on concealed carry.

[Divided Attention]

Nicely done! I enjoyed reading the comments as well. The comments are a great illustration of how fear of the unknown is a huge factor in opinions being formed without even trying to educate oneself. The one comment was long and hard to read, as I think the formatting was not maintained, but a great illustration on how beneficial a CHL can be, AND how when seconds count police are only minutes away - not a jab at our wonderful law enforcement and EMS, just the nature of the beast.

When I am asked why on earth I would want to carry a weapon and endanger myself and my children by doing so, I simply respond that it is my right but moreso my responsibility. We have become a nation dependent upon others to take care of ourselves, our families, and our property when ultimately we are responsible for this. I refuse to be a victim without the ability to at least try to defend myself. Then of course they say "I want to stand by you" to which I respond "then you better go get your CHL, because this is for me and mine and I am under NO obligation to defend you, and will only do so unless me or mine are threatened as well." They look shocked and I turn and say "See, no cape".

Thanks OP for this article and doing something you didn't have to do and speaking out for all of us! You have set an awesome example.

DA

[TXlaw1]

Thank you, Scott, for writing well about the rights of all citizens to keep and bear arms - including students at our colleges and universities. Why should these be free-fire zones increasing the dangers the students face?

[SlickTX]

In the comments to the article a BrSmith runs out the old argument that a hotheaded guy with a gun will shoot someone because he lost at beer pong, someone looked at his girlfriend wrong or he got a bad grade.

BrSmith totally misses the point of concealed carry and fails to understand that a hothead is a hothead is a hothead. The hothead will beg, borrow or steal a weapon (bullet spewing or not) if he wishes to do someone harm, regardless of any laws against such action.

[RPB]

Very good

[Douva]

In the comments to the article a BrSmith runs out the old argument that a hotheaded guy with a gun will shoot someone because he lost at beer pong, someone looked at his girlfriend wrong or he got a bad grade.

BrSmith totally misses the point of concealed carry and fails to understand that a hothead is a hothead is a hothead. The hothead will beg, borrow or steal a weapon (bullet spewing or not) if he wishes to do someone harm, regardless of any laws against such action.

I'd challenge BrSmith to show that there has EVER been a game of beer pong ON the UT campus. As I said in my op-ed, legalizing campus carry wouldn't change the rules at off-campus parties.

[Douva]

The following statement did leave me with a need for a little more explanation:

If there are concerns about the vulnerability of dorms to theft, those concerns can be addressed without maintaining a campuswide ban on concealed carry.

Based on our (SCCC's) estimates, there would be no more than 10-20 CHL holders living in on-campus housing at UT (the largest university in the state). Because most of those CHL holders would be over the age of 21, several of them would probably live in on-campus apartments, not dorms. So, all of the hoopla about guns in dorms really revolves around, at most, about 12 CHL holders on any one campus.

If people are concerned about the vulnerability of dorms to theft, we can develop a plan for safely storing those dozen or so handguns that doesn't involve disarming the entire campus population. One possibility would be requiring a CHL holder who keeps a handgun in a dorm to have a small gun safe or lock box secured to the floor or a piece of furniture, making it difficult for somebody to sneak into the room and quietly slip out with the gun.

[VMI77]

I agree, well done. It's just too bad that intelligent essays like yours are so rare in the MSM.