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About the middle of April, I spoke with Texas Tech Chancellor Kent Hance about the 30.06 signs at the campus entrances which had been posted under the previous administration of Dr. David Smith, an anti-gun M. D. by trade.

Dr. Hance, an attorney and former U. S. Congressman, agreed that posting under 30.06 was likely not enforceable, and he also agreed with me that the signs should be removed. Well, about three months has passed since we had that conversation, and I was beginning to suspect that he may have hit a rough spot in dealing with the Board of Regents or some such.

However, this afternoon I received a call from my son, who was driving on the campus, that those pesky 30.06s were being taken down and replaced with the familiar "no unlicensed handguns" type; eye-catching, but sufficiently innocuous.

I am quite pleased by this. I believe that Texas Tech, under the very capable leadership of Dr. Hance, has made a powerful statement that the safety of its students, staff, and visitors is a priority. I hope that other institutions which have problematic 30.06 signage will look to Texas Tech as a model.

AV8R wrote:About the middle of April, I spoke with Texas Tech Chancellor Kent Hance about the 30.06 signs at the campus entrances which had been posted under the previous administration of Dr. David Smith, an anti-gun M. D. by trade.

Dr. Hance, an attorney and former U. S. Congressman, agreed that posting under 30.06 was likely not enforceable, and he also agreed with me that the signs should be removed. Well, about three months has passed since we had that conversation, and I was beginning to suspect that he may have hit a rough spot in dealing with the Board of Regents or some such.

However, this afternoon I received a call from my son, who was driving on the campus, that those pesky 30.06s were being taken down and replaced with the familiar "no unlicensed handguns" type; eye-catching, but sufficiently innocuous.

I am quite pleased by this. I believe that Texas Tech, under the very capable leadership of Dr. Hance, has made a powerful statement that the safety of its students, staff, and visitors is a priority. I hope that other institutions which have problematic 30.06 signage will look to Texas Tech as a model.

That's a great first step, but the safety of the students is not really the issue in my opinion. Most students are on campus for the purpose of going into a building - which they cannot do if armed.

WOW....but doesnt the law state in BLACK AND WHITE...no schools

Or if the 30.06 sign is down then its ok?

Molon_labe wrote:WOW....but doesnt the law state in BLACK AND WHITE...no schools

Or if the 30.06 sign is down then its ok?

The law says no school BUILDINGS. This makes the parking lots ok.

A small victory... Good job!

Regarding the safety of students, Kent Hance is very concerned, and he is an honorable man. This is the text of his reply to a note of thanks that I sent to him earlier this evening:

""Hance, Kent"
to me

show details
9:33 pm (51 minutes ago)
Thanks for the nice note. I also have arranged to grant peace officer scholarships to attend undergraduate classes.
We plan to give twenty of these scholarships.
This will also give us more protection.
Thanks,Kent Hance"

Steering an academic bureaucracy is a lot like turning an aircraft carrier around by holding a teacup over the side in the water. This is a big deal because the chancellor has been able to change attitudes in the governance and administration of the university.

The police scholarships program is win-win. It is a wonderful opportunity for officers to obtain higher education that otherwise may not be accessible to them. It will also allow faculty and administration to see armed young men and women in the hallways and classrooms of the university and to become comfortable with them. Perhaps the faculty may even reflect that a VT-like incident could be quickly stopped by those armed persons already present. It may lead to bigger and better things.

I'm hoping to see the current prohibition on carry in schools and universities relaxed in the future. Chancellor Hance is well-known to the Texas legislature and is in a position to influence them to that end if he decides to do so. I'll keep advocating that.

I am pleasantly stunned that my Alma Mater has shown such clear thinking.

...and was able to act on it.

Go Tech!!!

Thank You AV8R. very much.

Those signs have been gone for some time now - unless they got put back up?????. The ones at the main entrance and stadiums are pushing well over a year now. Gun busters have been up in the SBC....err, Jones AT&T parking lot for a while. I don't recall there being any 30.06 at the USA. The stupid one near Indiana and UMC I think got backed over by a bulldozer before they took it down.

Just days after the Virgina Tech shooting, there were petitions all over campus for concealed carry on campus. I would say a minimum of 5 different ones were going and had a long list of names. I would agree that most those names really had no idea the TRUE meaning of what concealed carry on campus actually meant. Some students just signed to be in support and some signed cause their friends did.

But the voice was heard.

All the names were turned it....and we had a meeting with the DFW regent who actually recently died. So not sure where that went.....but it will be pursued again, and again, and again, and again, and again.

Here is a great site to help schools get information:

http://www.concealedcampus.org/

Sounds like your son is still a student....have him get on a website called Facebook.com. There is a group somewhere specifically for Concealed Carry on the TTU campus. I believe its called 'Guns Up!, Guns Concealed' or something along those lines.

AV8R wrote:Regarding the safety of students, Kent Hance is very concerned, and he is an honorable man. This is the text of his reply to a note of thanks that I sent to him earlier this evening:

""Hance, Kent"
to me

show details
9:33 pm (51 minutes ago)
Thanks for the nice note. I also have arranged to grant peace officer scholarships to attend undergraduate classes.
We plan to give twenty of these scholarships.
This will also give us more protection.
Thanks,Kent Hance"

Steering an academic bureaucracy is a lot like turning an aircraft carrier around by holding a teacup over the side in the water. This is a big deal because the chancellor has been able to change attitudes in the governance and administration of the university.

The police scholarships program is win-win. It is a wonderful opportunity for officers to obtain higher education that otherwise may not be accessible to them. It will also allow faculty and administration to see armed young men and women in the hallways and classrooms of the university and to become comfortable with them. Perhaps the faculty may even reflect that a VT-like incident could be quickly stopped by those armed persons already present. It may lead to bigger and better things.

I'm hoping to see the current prohibition on carry in schools and universities relaxed in the future. Chancellor Hance is well-known to the Texas legislature and is in a position to influence them to that end if he decides to do so. I'll keep advocating that.

Exactly!!! Awesome guy!!! I hope to see him around for a LONG time!

Seems to me that this is a pretty good first step...And that is a grat thing...

To me a college campus is a lot like a small community in many ways...

There will be some in the community that do not believe we should have firearms in any way shape or form, and that they will not consider taking up the personal responsibility for their defense...They will rely upon others in Law Enforcement to do so...

Then there should be a segment of the community that does take up the responsibility and will do so with the upmost regard for safety and personal accountability...(like we do)...

Its just a shame that it takes many VT, and Columbine HS incidents to get people to get their collective heads out of the sand and realize there are people out there that do take it seriously...

Lets say a student is carrying on campus. He is sitting under a tree studying. He hears that there is a shooter in a building he is close to. He goes in, finds the BG and engages and neutralizes the threat before the campus police get there. Is he in violation of the law on this? Or should he just stay out of it? I'm not saying anyone would do this but you never know.

Tim

grandpatim wrote:Lets say a student is carrying on campus. He hears that there is a shooter in a building he is close to. He goes in, finds the BG and engages and neutralizes the threat before the campus police get there. Is he in violation of the law on this? Or should he just stay out of it? I'm not saying anyone would do this but you never know.

Tim

The law says he can't enter the building with a gun. However, the chances of prosecution or even arrest is slim to none in my opinion.

A great step for Texas Tech! Unfortunately, my own alma mater (St. Mary's) shows no sign of following suit.

Penn wrote:

grandpatim wrote:Lets say a student is carrying on campus. He hears that there is a shooter in a building he is close to. He goes in, finds the BG and engages and neutralizes the threat before the campus police get there. Is he in violation of the law on this? Or should he just stay out of it? I'm not saying anyone would do this but you never know.

Tim

The law says he can't enter the building with a gun. However, the chances of prosecution or even arrest is slim to none in my opinion.

IANAL, but I believe that even if he is arrested he has a defense of necessity.