Students at the University of Texas at Austin continue to speak out against campus carry as a case against it is filed in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Carry Quinn Cox, southwest regional director of students for concealed carry, released the amicus curiae brief by the Students for Concealed Carry and the Students for Concealed Carry Foundation Jan. 29 in the Glass v. Paxton case filed by three UT professors.
The Glass v. Paxton case was first filed July 4, 2016. The lawsuit sues the State of Texas and claims that allowing concealed handguns to be carried on public campuses is a threat to the right of free speech and equal protection. The brief released by Students for Concealed Carry and the Students of Concealed Carry Foundation against Glass v. Paxton challenges the two questions that the case is based upon.
The first question the brief poses is whether allowing concealed handguns on campus denies professors the freedom to exercise educational judgment over their classrooms. The second question is if the policy compels professors to censor their own teaching material and style.
Jennifer Glass, sociology professor, and English professors Mia Carter and Lisa Moore filed the lawsuit.
Two organizations filed the brief against the case. First, the SCC, a national nonprofit organization founded in 2007 is responsible for starting the national campus carry movement. Second, the SCCF, a nonprofit organization formed in 2014 by alumni of SCC and is dedicated to advancing concealed carry on college campuses.
Several students from UT commented on the issue.
“I didn’t know about the current lawsuit, but I’d understand why they’d do it,” Valeria Valdez, UT sophomore said. “Carrying guns on campus is in its own way an abuse of power and people can’t make the parallels that everything is political.”
Veronica Lozano, senior at UT, said she has always struggled to choose a side in the concealed carry argument because of her personal experiences at the university.
“Not so long ago, there was a stabbing incident on campus where three students were injured and one student killed,” Lozano said. “Another girl was murdered walking back to her dorm and this is another example of how having a gun can change the outcome of your life forever.”
Joshua Genova a senior at UT, said he is against campus carry. Genova said he does not feel safe allowing handguns inside classrooms.
“Professors have been telling students during syllabus day that they don’t approve of the law and that they don’t allow such weapons in their classroom during their lectures,” Genova said. “It also seems like there have been more assaults on, or near campus. Concealed carry is supposed to help but it hasn’t helped.”
Moore, one of the three professors involved in the ongoing case denied to give a statement and referred all questions to her lawyers.