Campus Reform: Texas A&M University

Last week, the Students for Concealed Carry chapters at Texas A&M University and Blinn College did an Empty Holster Protest.  They recieved earned media attention from local news outslets; see coverage here, here, and here.

In addition to the protest, students hosted John Lott on the A&M campus to speak about the actual statistics and research that has been done on the effects of concealed carry laws.

"I really wanted to debate someone here, so they could tell me why they think banning handguns is a good idea, even though they can't show anywhere it works," said Lott. He continued:

I cannot find a single case where a country or city has banned firearms and the murder rate hasn't gone up.  I can't find a single one. I have been studying this issue for a long time. Every mass public shooting since 1979 with more than three dead has been in a so-called "guns free zone" where firearms are prohibited.... There is not a single peer-reviewed study that shows that concealed carry increases crime.  Not a single one!

The Texas A&M Student Senate passed an oppressive "anti-discrimination" bill last night. Ironically, a couple of student senators were discriminated against during the process.

The bill passed advocating for the following additions to the University Statement on Harassment and Discrimination: ethnicity, citizenship, pregnancy, sex, gender, parental status, marital status, military, political preference or activity. During the debate process many senators brought up amendments to this bill. Although some amendments were heard, amendments by Senators Justin Pulliam and me, both of us conservatives, were not considered by the floor and were censored by the Speaker of the Senate, Michele Breaux. This type of dictatorship shown by the Speaker does not advocate for the voices of students; rather, it restricts it.

Last night, the Student Senate at Texas A&M considered three bills that would authorize a delegation, funded by students fees, to lobby for federal legislation regarding textbooks, federal student loans, college affordability, and other higher education federal programs.

Thanks to the efforts of several conservative student senators, many of them trained by CampusReform.org's Leadership Institute, the lobby bills were defeated. Kudos to Scott Bowen, Justin Pulliam, Chris Russo, Jess Fields, and Steven Crumpley.

Unfortunately, the appropriations bill for over $1300 in student fee money for the trip to D.C. was approved. However, the bill was not available to the senators or the public for viewing before the meeting. It was passed without most of the senators even reading it!

Regardless of the content of the legislation, how could it possibly be ethical to use student fees to lobby for any legislation at any level of government?