On Thursday, July 6, 2017, a trial court in Texas dismissed a challenge to Texas’s campus carry law which claimed the legislation stifled the First Amendment rights of college professors.

Plaintiffs allege that “classroom discussion will be narrowed, truncated, cut back, cut off” by the allowance of guns in the classroom. One professor avers in an affidavit that the “possibility of the presence of concealed weapons in a classroom impedes my and other professors’ ability to create a daring, intellectually active, mutually supportive, and engaged community of thinkers.”

Sad, but the plaintiffs were ignorantly alleging that a student with a concealed carry permit and a weapon would use it to moderate the discussion in the classroom.

“This, of course, is cowardly, ignorant nonsense. I’ve spent more than my share of time in college classes that covered contentious topics, and not once did they generate so much as fisticuffs, much less deadly violence,” constitutional attorney David French wrote of the plaintiffs’ allegations.  “Moreover, lawful concealed carriers represent a segment of the population more law-abiding than the police.”

The court, which found no alleged “injury-in-fact”, dismissed the case for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and addressed the plaintiffs’ fear in their findings:

Here, Plaintiffs ask the court to find standing based on their self-imposed censoring of classroom discussion caused by their fear of the possibility of illegal activity by persons not joined in this lawsuit. Plaintiffs present no concrete evidence to substantiate their fears, but instead, rest on “mere conjecture about possible actions.”

In an article published in the LaGrange Daily News, University of West Georgia adjunct professor Jason W. Swindle Sr. addressed the reality of what has transpired in states that have passed campus carry laws.

While I respect those who disagree with Campus Carry, I cannot recall an argument against it that was based on logic, history or verified facts.

There are ten states (including Georgia) that have provisions allowing the carrying of concealed weapons.

Twenty-three additional states allow each college to make the decision. None of these states have seen a resulting increase in gun violence as a result of legalizing concealed carry.

Professor Swindle also addressed individuals with ignorant, irrational fears of campus carry laws, including those who claim “Adding guns to the ‘college lifestyle’ of drinking and partying, would be a disaster.”

First, it is unlawful for a licensed concealed permit holder to carry while under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Licensed holders went through the proper steps, underwent a background check, and were licensed by a probate judge. Logic would dictate that these class of gun owners possess the highest level of responsibility and thus would not carry while drinking.

But sadly, logic rarely dictates the gun control agenda’s actions or their legions of supporters’ acceptance of facts and reality.