
AUSTIN TEXAS - March 302009 - The Libertarian Party applauds the House Public Safety Committee for considering a bill to allow concealed carry of handguns on college campuses in Texas. HB 1893 would allow all permit holders to carry a concealed weapon.
As long as students remain disarmed through restrictive weapons laws any student is a potential victim of violence whether on or off campus. Reforming concealed carry laws to permit firearms on campus is a profound step in the right direction said Longhorn Libertarian student leader Norman Horn. Horn indicates that disarming students on campus has unintended consequences off campus as well because violent offenders can be sure that students traveling to and from school are without protection.
We think this bill is a valuable step toward compliance with the second amendment declared Libertarian Chair Patrick Dixon. Violent criminals will be deterred by the knowledge that their prospective victims on a campus may be very capable of defending themselves.
Students and teachers need protection on campus said LPT Executive Director Robert Butler. An armed student could have quickly ended the recent tragedies like the Virginia Tech shootings.
The Libertarian Party fully supports Americans right to keep and bear arms. There is no footnote in the second amendment that says except for college campuses added Dixon.
According to John Lott Jr. an expert on violent crime from the American Enterprise Institute and a Fellow at the University of Chicago When states passed these (shall issue concealed carry) laws the number of multiple-victim shootings declined by 84 percent. Deaths from these shootings plummeted on average by 90 percent and injuries by 82 percent.