A lot of people have been wondering how to address the problem this country has with gun violence on college campuses. It’s undeniable that something must be done, but the conversation remains stagnant on the issue of guns as protection versus guns as problems. To absolutely no one’s surprise, Texas has sided with the pro-gun campaign.
Texas will enact the “campus carry” law that allows people with weapons licenses to bring concealed firearms into any campus facility Aug. 1, 2016. This bill will go into effect on the 50th anniversary of University of Texas’ campus massacre, where Charles Joseph Whitman locked himself in a university tower and fired on students below. From this tower, he killed 16 students and wounded more than 30 others.
This campus carry law isn’t particularly new or revolutionary. Colorado, Wisconsin, Idaho, Kansas, Mississippi, Oregon and Utah already allow concealed weapons on their campuses.
What is unexpected is the reaction from some of the students at the University of Texas. Some students have planned a Campus Dildo Carry protest, where students come to class with vibrators, dildos and other phallic objects hanging from their backpacks.
The purpose of the movement is draw attention to the ridiculous double standard of desensitization to violence and oversensitivity to sexuality.
UT student Jessica Jin, an organizer of the event, called into question the set of ethics that is stricter on penis-shaped objects than guns. “The state of Texas has decided that it is not at all obnoxious to allow deadly concealed weapons in classrooms, however it does have strict rules about free sexual expression, to protect your innocence,” she wrote on Facebook.
I have to admire the humorous protest style that not only calls attention to the student body’s discontent about policies that directly affect their safety, but also highlight the ridiculous set of ethics.
The demonization of sexuality and glorification of violence that is frequently depicted in the media takes on real life consequences with policies like this. It is a common argument for pro-gun activists that having more guns will prevent massacres from happening because it will increase victims’ abilities to protect themselves. The problem with this is the culture of danger it creates. When anyone could have a gun, it doesn’t make everyone else feel safe. It escalates paranoia.
One professor at UT has already resigned out of fear for his own safety. More than 280 professors have signed a petition claiming the campus carry law was a “direct assault on our free speech rights.”
The University of Texas System Chancellor William McRaven, a former Navy SEAL, and one of the biggest opponents of this law, gives the best answer for why more guns doesn’t equal a safer environment. Drawing on his own experience, he says people who aren’t trained to handle a hostile environment will not react predictably when being shot at.
But Navy SEALs and campus massacres can’t stop Texas from allowing concealed weapons on campus. Perhaps the only response left is a protest that can recognize the backwards set of priorities that is willing to see more harm in phallic plastic than it does in guns.
jordrile@indiana.edu
@riledupids
