Gun-Toten’ Texans!

By Dr. Herny Flores, NewsTaco

The Koch Brothers stated recently that their vision of life in the United States could be found in Texas.  I don’t mean to pick on the Koch Brothers but just exactly what did they mean?  Just this past week a court in Republican dominated Montgomery County (just to the northwest of Houston) a jury sentenced a man to 30 years in prison after his 10th DWI.  You could interpret this as Texas being the land of second, third and subsequent chances or you could simply interpret this as libertarian government finally getting sick and tired of a drunk driver gone wild.  Another very Texan characteristic is being played out in our state capital where “gun-toten’ crazies” are threatening the state legislators with physical harm if the state assembly does not pass a law allowing Texans to openly carry guns.

Open-Carry Law 

Currently there are sixteen states that warrant open-carry without a permit.  Almost all of these states are rural and at least fourteen have Republican dominated legislatures.  There are other states that allow carrying concealed guns or approve of carrying long guns but what we want in Texas is the right to carry holstered weapons only.  I haven’t seen the legislation so I’m not sure if one would be allowed to carry a loaded gun openly.

Mind you, the legislature is considering passing this law in a state where one can get away with nine DWIs before being sent to prison!  I hope the lege (as Molly Ivins used to call them) consider the possibility that you might have some “gun-toten’” drunk drivers racing up and down the freeways, highways and byways of our fair state.  I wonder if this picture is part of the Koch Brothers’ vision.

Open-Carry and College Campuses 

One of the most absurd (the entire proposed law is absurd) aspects of the proposed legislation is the one allowing individuals to openly carry guns on college campuses. I’ve been in higher education long enough to have seen some very angry students, faculty and administrators furious about one thing or the other.  As an administrator I had to send faculty home because they were physically threatened by students, I’ve had violent students removed from campus, I’ve removed faculty from the class room because they get furious at student attitudes or behavior.  What triggers severe anger is not clear but we have enough examples of campus shootings across this country to make legislators think twice before wanting to allow open-carry on college campuses.  If this was to pass and campuses were to allow open-carry then everyone needs to be armed for self-defense reasons.  In a strange twist I can even see teacher and staff unions requesting that administrations purchase guns for college employees and even paying for classes on how to use a sidearm when appropriate as part of new employee orientation.

Still a More Serious Consideration 

One thing that our legislators are not taking into consideration is the violent nature of our society.  In a recent piece by Nathaniel Rich in the New York Review of Books he argues that Americans’ fascination with professional football is based in the notion that we live in a society that is addicted to violence.  We enjoy watching over-grown behemoths bash each other into invalidism every Sunday.  We hail the “hitters” without thinking of the physical, neurological and psychological consequences suffered by the athletes.  We also enjoy the violence without realizing that constant exposure to this type of activity is emotionally numbing those watching the games.

So, the Texas legislature is considering an open-carry law in a state where DWI and violence reign.  This is not surprising given that this is the same state that reduced funding for public education by $3 billion dollars in the last legislative session.  Texas, a state of DWIs, of “gun-toten’ crazies,” of lovers of violence, a state that does not place any value on a public education is the vision that the Koch Brothers have for the nation.

I suspect that many of the legislators who initially signed on in support of open-carry did so simply as a campaign ploy, appealing to right-wing, “gun-toten’ crazies” without thinking of the consequences.  These legislators were not thinking of the well-being of Texas citizens they were only thinking of getting elected and looking out for their own, selfish political careers.

Henry Flores, PhD, is a Vietnam veteran. He’s the Distinguished University Research Professor, Institute of Public Administration and Public Service; Director, Masters in Public Administration (MPA); Professor of International Relations and Political Science at St. Mary’s University.

[Photo courtesy of chron.com]

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