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The Battalion • Page 7
Monday • May 29, 1995
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Texas steps backward with gun law
The Battalion
Established in 1893
Editorials appearing in The Battalion reflect the views
of the editorials board. They do not necessarily reflect
the opinions of other Battalion staff members, the
Texas A&M student body, regents, administration,
faculty or staff. Columns, guest columns, cartoons
and letters express the opinions of the authors.
Contact the opinion editor for information on
submitting guest columns.
Editorials Board
Jay Robbins
Editor in Chief
Rob Clark
Managing Editor
Sterling Hayman
Opinion Editor
Kyle Littlefield
Assistant Opinion Editor
Read all about it
The Battalion seeks to provide
objective coverage of Texas A&M.
With this semester The
Battalion will finish its 101st
year of publication. Over the
past century the Batt has
evolved from a monthly news
and literary magazine to one
of the largest daily college
newspapers in the country.
With that evolution has
come purpose.
The Battalion’s mission is:
1) To serve its readership
by providing the most accu
rate, relevant and timely in
formation possible, and to do
so in a professional, fair and
objective manner.
2) To train students in
newspaper journalism by in
sisting on the highest stan
dards of work and by provid
ing the resources and guid
ance needed to reach those
standards.
3) To operate under the
highest ethical standards at
all times.
Every semester The Bat
talion starts over with a new
staff, new leaders and new
ideas, but the basic mission
of the newspaper always re
mains the same.
The Battalion strives to
maintain diversity in cover
age and sensitivity toward
certain issues without sacri
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The Batt’s success in carry
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Make sure The Battalion
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The Battalion’s editors
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their staffs nothing less
than responsible, conscien
tious journalism. Reader in
put is crucial in helping to
maintain a standard of qual
ity which makes for an in
formative and responsible
newspaper.
Mai i
The Battalion encourages
letters to Mail Call and will
print as many as space allows.
In order to conserve space,
letters must be 300 words or
less in length and include the
author’s name, class (or city of
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ber. Telephone numbers will
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Letters may be submitted in
person at 013 Reed McDonald
Building, Texas A&M Universi
ty, between 10 a.m. and 10 p.m.
The person dropping off the let
ter must show a valid student
I.D. or driver license.
Mail letters to The Battalion —
Mail Call, 013 Reed McDonald
Building, Texas A&M University,
College Station, Texas 77843-
1111.
Fax letters to (409) 845-2647.
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For queries on letters, call
Sterling Hayman, The Battalion
Opinion Editor at (409) 845-3312.
• The Battalion reserves the
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and punctuation. The Battalion
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• The Battalion reserves the
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basis of excessive length or factu
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Elizabeth
Preston
Columnist
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Jay Robbins
Summer Editor in Chief
T exas has just be
come the 41st
state to make
concealed weapons le
gal. Collectively, this
is the largest step
backward America
has taken since prohi
bition was ended.
Gov. George Bush
promised during his 1994 campaign that
passing this bill would be one of his top pri
orities. Apparently he took his campaign
promises more seriously than his father did.
Various groups, such as the all-powerful
National Rifle Association and its cronies,
have been trying to legalize concealed
weapons in Texas for the past eight years.
Finally, they have been successful.
The people that were in favor of the bill
have been making sad attempts to reassure
worried Texans. Gib Lewis, a former house
speaker, who is now — surprise, surprise —
an NRA lobbyist, comfortingly predicted that
only a small percentage of Texans would ac
tually acquire gun licenses.
He used Florida as an example, citing the
fact that their bill passed in 1987, and only 2
percent of their residents have actually pur
sued a handgun permit.
Two percent of the people walking around
with concealed handguns is still too many for
comfort. In addition, how can we tell if his pre
diction will be correct? Maybe if we all just
close our eyes really tightly and hope that
Lewis is right, then it will become true. And
maybe there really is! a Santa Claus, too.
It isn’t safe to stake a life on either claim.
It is also scary to try to assess which 2 per
cent of the population may receive licenses.
Maybe those who receive licenses will be sane,
rational and even-tempered people who would
never lose their heads or act without
thought. Then again, maybe not.
Sure, 100-percent accuracy is impos
sible. So one or two crazies will slip
through the cracks. All that means is
that one or two people will lose their
lives prematurely. This seems like a
small price to pay for the privilege of
dm* carrying a killing machine ... except to
the families of the victims.
The people who want to carry a gun
badly enough to go through the applica
tion process — which includes paying sev
eral fees that add up to over $200 and at
tending a 10- to 15-hour course on gun
safety — are the people who need guns
the least.
E.B. Reddoch III, executive director for
the Texas State Rifle Association, told the
Dallas Morning News, “I see a great oppor
tunity for the less-than-well-trained gun
owner because of the momentum to get a li
cense. Overall we’ll end up with safer streets
because of it.”
To summarize, his logic is that the gun
laws up to this point have allowed uneducat
ed people to have murderous weapons in
their homes. So, if they are inspired to get a
license to carry these previously-stored
weapons, we will actually fix the problem.
Something is flawed in that logic.
This means if Bubba down at the bar has
one of those newfangled licenses, then Joe-
Bob will damn well get one for himself. But,
cleverly, while Bubba and Joe-Bob think
they are competing to be the first one on the
block able to carry concealed guns, the state
of Texas is actually transforming them into
intelligent, reasonable and educated gun
carriers.
Reddoch needs to rejoin reality.
The groups opposing the bill, including
notable ones such as the Texas Association
of Police Chiefs and Texans Against Gun Vi
olence, presented eloquent arguments
against the bill.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough.
In an article that appeared in The Dal
las Morning News on May 27, Dallas police
Chief Kenneth Yarbrough said that they
had police personnel who were dealing
with guns in a different way — mostly de
fensive actions. Now they will have to be
retrained to treat every situation as if
weapons were involved.
Police were nervous enough when crimi
nals were the only people carrying guns
around. Now most everyone will have the
ability to carry guns. A routine traffic stop
could easily turn into a deadly incident.
Bruce Elfant, speaking for Texans
Against Gun Violence, said the new law
“leaves us open to errors in judgment, stolen
weapons and crimes coming out of argu
ments. And I think it’s unrealistic to think
those things aren’t going to happen some
where, sometime.”
Preventing these accidental deaths is ob
viously more important than somehow try
ing to make up for the inadequacies of previ
ous gun laws with a newer one.
Obvious to everyone except Texas law
makers, that is.
Maybe Lewis and Elfant are correct in
their predictions. In the meantime, barri
cade your houses and burrow down a little
lower into your safe rooms. It is easier to
do this than to fear the barrel of an irate
gun-carrier.
And quietly hope that it is only your secu
rity and peacefulness that are at stake.
Elizabeth Preston is a senior-
English major
NRA fails to represent mainstream America
Sterling
Hayman
Opinion
Editor
G ood on former president George
Bush. Two weeks ago, in re
sponse to an National Rifle Asso
ciation newsletter that referred to ATF
federal agents as “jackbooted thugs” in
“Nazi bucket helments,” Bush cancelled
his membership in the NRA.
This move by the former president
not only shows that the NRA continues
to overstep the bounds of decency, but
also that the organization does not represent mainstream America.
However, fellow Republicans, Phil Gramm and Bob Dole — two men
who continue to offer their souls in return for potential votes — are
quick to bow down to the NRA, which boasts a membership of over 3.5
million and a seemingly endless bank account. Gramm has received
hundreds of thousands of dollars from the NRA for his presidential
campaign, and Dole has promised a Senate vote on the repeal of the as
sault weapon ban that was passed in last year’s anti-crime bill.
This last faux paus of the NRA couldn’t have come at a worse time
for the gun lobby. The fact that the NRA continues to spread its hateful
anti-government messages in the wake of the Oklahoma City tragedy,
in which many federal agents lost their lives, proves that the organiza
tion is short-sighted enough not to realize that they are the problem
and not the solution to society’s woes.
Clinton was correct in attacking many members of the media for
spreading hateful, anti-government rhetoric. The Republicans were
quick to pound Clinton, claiming that he was trampling the First
Amendment; however, Clinton’s message was right in line with a cen
tral Republican philosophy— personal responsibility. Clinton was
merely suggesting that the radio talk show hosts take responsibilty for
their actions. When hate is preached, that hate is expressed through
out society.
The NRA, too, must take responsibility for their actions. Not only
are they preaching their messages of hate and anti-government, but
they are spreading the messages throughout an audience that loves to
use weapons. Sounds pretty dangerous, huh?
Although the organization’s membership continues to increase and
its power grows larger, more and more leaders are speaking out
against the NRA. Retired Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, who also re
signed from the organization, noted that the NRA is “very inflexible
and almost radical.”
You may notice that neither Bush nor Schwarzkopf are the typ
ical “bleeding hearts” who are always accused of attacking the gun
lovers. In fact, both are fairly staunch conservatives. But, they tod
realize that the ideology promoted by the NRA is not conducive to
a healthy society.
But, then again, neither is a repeal of the assault-weapons ban that
became law last year. Yet, the gun lovers think that allowing citizens
to carry semi-automatic weapons may cure what ails a society that
blows up federal buildings, releases lethal gases in subway cars and
sends bombs through the mail.
Yes, things will have to change. People must start taking responsi
bility for the consequences of their actions. Certainly, limiting the right
to free speech is not the answer. The NRA should be able to say what
ever they want to, just like the Ku Klux Klan and the Michigan Militia.
Americans must put an end to these organizations by refusing to ac
cept their propoganda, and by take bold and courageous actions like
former President Bush.
Sterling Hayman is a senior political science major
The Batet/sj ion
Editorial Staff
Jay ROBBINS, Editor in Chief
Rob Clark, Managing Editor
Sterling Hayman, Opinion editor
Gretchen Perrenot, City Editor
Jody Holley, night News Editor
Stacy Stanton, night News Editor
MICHAEL LandauER, Aggielife Editor
Nick Georgandis, Sports Editor
Stew Milne, Photo Editor
Staff Members
City Desk — Assistant Editor: Eleanor Colvin; Re
porters: Katherine Arnold, Javier Hino
josa, Scott McMahan, Jill Saunders,
Michael Simmons, Wes Swift & Tara
Wilkinson
Aggielife Desk - Feature Writers: Kristen Adams,
Amy Collier & Libe Goad; Columnist:
Amy Uptmor
Sportswriters - David Winder and Lee Wright
Opinion Desk - Assistant Editor: Kyle Littlefield;
Columnists: Elizabeth Preston, Frank
Stanford & David Taylor; Contributing
Columnists: Justin Barnett, Margaret Gor
don, Alex Miller, Chris Stidvent & Mark
Zane; Editorial Writers: Jason Brown &
Alex Walters; Editorial Cartoonists:
Brad Graeber & George Nasr
Photographers - Mike Friend, Roger Hsieh,
Nick Rodnicki & Eddy Wylie
Page Designers - News: Kristin DeLuca & Kristen
DeRocha; Sports: Robin Greathouse; Ag
gielife: Stew Milne
Copy Editors - Rob Clark & Sterling Hayman
Graphic Artists - Toon Boonyavanich & Melissa
Oldham
Strip Cartoonists - Valerie Myers & Quatro
Oakley
Office Staff - Office Manager: Julie Thomas;
Clerks: Wendy Crockett & Heather Harris
News: The Battalion news department is managed
by students at Texas A&M University in the
Division of Student Publications, a unit of
the Department of Journalism.
News offices are in 01 3 Reed McDonald Building.
Newsroom hours:
Sunday, 2 p.m. to 1 0 p.m.
Monday - Thursday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Friday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Newsroom phone: 845-3313; Fax: 845-2647
E-mail: Batt@tamvm1.tamu.edu
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