Tuesday, March 1, 2011

From the state that brings us scholarships for white males only, we get the latest lunacy:

Students in Texas could soon be allowed to bring their guns into class under new legislation the notoriously gun-friendly state is poised to adopt.

9 comments:

  1. I was not aware that while males were a traditionally underprivileged minority. While they may currently be a minority in Texas, I'm fairly sure they aren't in the rest of the country.

    And being a generally privileged minority is in no way the same thing as being less privileged or less advantaged group of people who are not enjoying the same access to higher education.

    I'd love to see what the numbers are of white males graduating from Texas colleges and universities, or colleges and universities nationwide? Because that is usually the premise for founding a scholarship...

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  2. No, I thought not. While there was no column specifically for white males here, clearly females outnumber males by only a relatively small number, and whites clearly vastly outnumber other demographics.

    While this is for 2000 (I came across it before the 2010 census figures), I'm being lazy by not looking further. The numbers are so overwhelming it wasn't worth bothering.

    http://www.census.gov/population/estimates/nation/intfile3-1.txt

    white males - (numbers in thousands, so add three more zeros to the end of these) - 111,502;

    white females - (yeah, we live longer) - 115,359;

    black male - 16,857
    black female - 18,613

    American Indian,Eskimo, Aleut -
    male - 18,613
    female - 1,236

    Asian and Pacific Islander
    male - 5,408
    female - 5,871

    I didn't have the numbers specifically for hispanics, but this does:http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/hispanic/files/Internet_Hispanic_in_US_2006.pdf

    Which showed hispanics as 12.5 percent of the population, although admittedly distribution of hispanic populations is uneven across different regions of the United States.

    So......presumably these white scholars who are not academically at the top of the heap apparently, need to bring their guns to class to shore up their diminsishing notions of superiority?

    Just a thought, but maybe it would be a whole lot better if they expended more effort on their books and other study materials.

    Just a thought... because I have them, and don't need a gun to supplement my brain to succeed or feel competent.

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  3. I believe that any sort of limitation of scholarships by race alone is wrong, no matter what the race.

    Although I fail to see the problem with concealed handgun license holders licensed to carry everywhere else to be allowed to carry guns in college campuses.

    Unless they're going to put some REAL security in place, a "gun-free zone" really isn't any such thing for those willing to do harm to others.

    ...Orygunner...

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  4. A gun free zone means that no one has to feel intimidated by someone carrying a weapon.

    Weapons by their very nature are the antithesis of certain kinds of open and equal discussion.

    I don't think our civil society has any place for weapons as a matter of course.

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  5. @Dog Gone, you stated: "A gun free zone means that no one has to feel intimidated by someone carrying a weapon."

    Oh, like that really worked here?

    Or, how about these school board members?

    A "gun-free" zone without hard security to back it up hasn't proven to prevent anything, EXCEPT, keeping those that are willing to obey the rules from having an effective means of self defense.

    You're claiming that peaceably armed citizens with CONCEALED handguns are going to be intimidating to other students when a) they won't even know they are carrying a gun, and b) CHL holders have an excellent safety record of NOT using their firearms inappropriately.

    As long as there are still those in our society who would harm or kill innocent people, guns absolutely have a place in our society in the hands of good people.

    ...Orygunner...

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  6. After the law passes, teachers and students alike will know that the guy next to them could very well have a gun. In Texas it would be pretty likely that he does. This cannot facilitate the kinds of exchanges that should take place between professors and students. That's one problem. Then we've got the ever-present danger that one of those lawfully armed guys will do something stupid or wrong.

    All that downside for what, the hope that the next time a Cho or Loughner strikes one of them will be right exactly there at the ready? If a mass shooting does happen, itself extremely rare, the biggest probability is that like Tuscon, the armed men present will be powerless to intervene. And if they do, more damage may very well occur in a wild attempt to be the hero.

    Guns on campus - bad idea.

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  7. @Mikeb, who says there needs to be changes to the interaction between teachers and students? You're trying to claim CHL holders are dangerous and unstable and will use their firearms inappropriately when it's been proven that they are safer than the average person in society.

    CHL holders have an excellent record of NOT resolving disputes and arguments with their firearms, and the ones that DO choose to resolve their problems that way certainly do NOT need a CHL to do it.

    The rest of your suggestions: That a peaceably armed student MAY not be in the right place to do anything about a mass shooting, sure. But then again they MAY. That an armed student MIGHT make things worse? I fail to see what could be worse than allowing an armed gunman to walk amongst cowering students firing and reloading with no possible opposition. Besides, what instances of a person using a firearm in self defense can YOU provide where the armed citizen made things worse?

    So far I see no significant or proven reason why allowing concealed handgun license holders to carry a firearm on campus is a bad idea. Do you have any?

    ...Orygunner...

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  8. Gun Free zones need to be eliminated!

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  9. Orygunner said, "You're trying to claim CHL holders are dangerous and unstable and will use their firearms inappropriately when it's been proven that they are safer than the average person in society."

    That's not been proven to me. And the fact is, although we may disagree on the percentage, some of you CCW guys are dangerous and unfit.

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