Residence halls are one of the primary locations where campus carry is restricted, with the exception of Calhoun Lofts. | File photo/The Cougar
The University of Houston Police Department Chief of Police Ceaser Moore, Jr. sent out an email Friday afternoon reminding students, faculty and staff of the implementation of the campus carry policy, which will go into effect Monday afternoon.
“This is the result of debate and deliberation by the Campus Carry Work Group, robust input from a number of concerned campus members and thoughtful implementation by many UH administrators,” Moore said.
In the email, Moore reiterated the areas on campus where guns are and are not allowed. The policy excludes guns from being allowed in any of the residence halls on campus except for Calhoun Lofts, as well as any research labs with potentially harmful materials, all sporting venues on campus, as well as additional areas.
The UHPD police station will serve as a secure storage facility for registered weapons to be stored.
Moore also reminded students of the responsibility of concealed carry and that any form of open carry on campus isn’t allowed.
“It is the responsibility of the licensed handgun holders to carry their weapons properly (i.e., concealed),” Moore said. “We remind you that the open carry of handguns anywhere on campus remains prohibited.”
Bravo Zulu to the UH police force and everyone who helped get Campus Carry up and running. I am especially impressed with amount of access concealed carriers now have on campus, especially after attending some of the meetings. I also tip my hat to the Campus Carry Work Group who had to endure their own open meetings where progressive grown men hogged microphones, as they publicly cried and moaned about falling skies.
I have to agree with you on the Work Group. They’ve made the adoption of the law absolutely pain free. The secure storage facility being at the police station is kind of a pain, but honestly there are so few restrictions for us that it probably won’t matter. My hats are off to UH on this one.
I predict there will be 1 or 2 negligent discharges per year on average, and 0 crimes stopped after 10 years’ time. That would be in keeping with the experience of early-adopter states, considering frequency of mishap and Texas’ large gun toter population.
By the way, who exactly “cried and moaned about falling skies”? Was it Professor Strawman?
I hope you are wrong about ADs, but that’s what happens when you make exclusion zones.You increase risk when you make the carrier put their hands on it. I imagine that’s why most cops just tell you to keep it holstered and your hands in the open during traffic stops.
I also hope you are right about “0 crimes stopped” on campus. No one wants to see the classic mass-shooter scenario. For me, I don’t worry about on campus so much. I want to carry because of my transportation situation. I ride the bus or a motorcycle to campus and would prefer having more options for self-defense.
Having said that, I imagine the numbers of actual carriers will be pretty low. Night classes may have more, because of older students and those back-40 parking lots in the dark. Still, I don’t think this will be much of an issue in 6 months.
As for the professor, I don’t know who he was. I didn’t know whether to laugh or feel sorry for him. I genuinely hope he feels more at ease after a while. If not, someone with his personality might need to work at a private school. There are many reasons for someone to be unhappy with their job and people seek new opportunities all the time for more palatable working conditions.
In the end, I doubt I will carry on my “lab” days and just deal with my risks as I have previously done. Or if I do do carry on Lab days I may fanny-pack carry. That way all I have to do is “unsnap” and hand them the whole rig; never exposing the gun to the open air. That’s not ideal. Hence, why we call those “shoot me” bags because they make you an obvious first target.
But, the one thing I learned a long time ago is if you are going to carry for self-defense reasons you begin a series of trade-offs starting with clothing style or sizes, holster types, how much caliber you want in your pistol round or do you want more ammo rounds total. This list can go on.
Most people who have a CHL are never the problem when it comes to something going wrong with a gun. In fact, the statistics are astounding as to what happens when someone decides to get that license and carry. They are truly the good guys and ladies in the room.