New Texas gun legislation has students up in arms

Last week, many students at the University of Texas, Austin, gathered around campus to orchestrate a rather ill-humored, yet powerful campaign against recent legislation in the state. As of Aug. 1, staff and students on both public and private college campuses across Texas can now legally carry concealed guns.

The student body has not stomached this display of irresponsibility well. Their form of combat is flashy, and it has raised awareness about this controversial movement. The campaign in question is known as “Cocks Not Glocks.”

“We are fighting absurdity with absurdity,” UT student Jessica Jin said in an interview with Yahoo.com. To do so, Jin, along with countless other UT students, have distributed boxes of sex toys; some even sporting clever signage promoting the campaign decorated with slogans such as “If you are packing heat, we are packing meat,” along with other goofiness of that nature.

Protestors are also making social statements against the decisions of Texas lawmakers, a notion that has became rather popular across the country over these last several months since the news broke in the scholastic world this July.

Before we go too far into this, many of you are probably asking yourselves about the specifications of this bill. Where are they allowed, what type of gun is allowed, how many are capable of being registered per individual?

While some of that information has yet to be determined, it has been confirmed that students and faculty will be granted permission, via proof of licensing and age obligations, to carry their handguns in classrooms, courtyards, dormitories and any other buildings on campuses.

“Texas has decided it is not all obnoxious or illegal to allow deadly concealed weapons on campus,” Jin said. “But walking around with a dildo could land you in trouble.”

Couple Jin’s comments with the fact that it has been scientifically proven that the human mind doesn’t reach its final stages of development until age 25; and you ruin the integrity of the argument. Since the irony appears to be lost on many legislators, allow me to spell it out for you.

These students, who in case you forgot, are the future of our country. Which sentiment is more taboo? Talking openly, discussing sexuality, and harmlessly marching around with abnormally sized rubber penises? Or telling underdeveloped minds, even if they are 21 (the legal age of concealment in Texas), carrying potential murder weapons is a good idea? Which is the lesser of two evils?

Props to whoever dreamed this up, because it is hysterical. Distributing sex toys will only cause an array of belly laughs; it will never slay 49 people in one clip at a nightclub.

“An armed society is a safe society,” Rep. Jonathan Stickland R-Texas said in an article for The New York Times. “So any time you have gun control, there is far more opportunity to become victims. The criminals aren’t going to obey the laws. It’s the responsible folks who we should be encouraging to protect themselves in the community they live in.”

His reasoning seems logical and is met with a lot of enthusiasm from his advocates. However, when we flip the script to the students’ point of view, this idea isn’t as romanticized. There are thousands of students who would rather wave large floppy dildos over their heads and shout embarrassing catchphrases than stand by and watch themselves and their peers become vulnerable.

Their actions speak louder than the words they’re screaming. This is their rebellious way of saluting the SOS, and their fears and insecurities are feelings shared by countless students in the state.

If we can confidently say that criminals don’t follow the rules, do you honestly think college students do? Test it yourself, walk around any campus in this country and ask people if they have heard stories about parties involving underage drinking or drug use. It happens every day.

Our hero worship bestowed upon firearms in this country is quite flabbergasting. There are many redeeming qualities when it comes to the sphere of guns. People recognize shooting as sport, for hunting to provide for their families, and so on and so forth.

However, when you have state attorneys in the state of Texas who have vowed to get professors, regardless of tenure, terminated if they refuse to allow guns in their classrooms, that’s where the line needs to be drawn.

It’s not just Texas colleges and universities; Kansas is now on board with this too. College shouldn’t be about the measuring stick of intimidation or dominance, it should be a resource hub for academic splendor and cultural wanderlust. Neither exhibition requires weaponry of any kind.

Every university across the country wants to create their own narrative, and that’s understandable, but at this stage in our lives, we’re all essentially adolescents. Most haven’t grown up enough to understand the immense responsibility that comes with carrying a firearm.

In case of an emergency, the people who should be standing up against those attackers are law enforcement and/or the military if absolutely needed; and that’s it.

The question should not be, are guns good or bad, because it’s an irresolvable pissing match and irrelevant to the topic at hand. The real question in this moment is, if the students that you’re claiming to protect don’t or wouldn’t feel safe; is the new legislation really serving its purpose?