Not a “Nonissue”: Perceptions and Realities of Campus Carry at The University of Texas at Austin (original) (raw)

Hiding the unwanted: A University-level campus carry policy

Higher Education

Campus carry laws have allowed civilians to legally bring their concealed firearms onto college and university campuses in several states in the U.S. over the past decade. Previous studies have addressed the policy’s legal grounds, arguments for and against it, impacts on campus safety, and faculty and students’ attitudes toward it. This paper examines the less addressed topic of policy implementation, especially the role of universities in modifying the outcomes, including what kinds of rules the higher educational institutions themselves have designed and what these approaches mean. The article focuses on Texas, where public higher educational institutions were required to allow campus carry but also given some discretion in implementation. The article provides a qualitative content analysis of policy documents and expert interviews regarding the campus carry policy at The University of Texas at Austin. It argues that the university fully accomplishes the law, but through its poli...

Forum: Perceiving Security and Insecurity: The Campus Carry Law in Texas

Journal of American Studies, 2020

This introduction lays out the research design of a project on the Texas state “Campus Carry” gun legislation (SB 11) that went into effect in 2016. The project's transdisciplinary and multi-methodological approach – based on team fieldwork, personal interviews, focus groups, testimonials, visual materials, and a survey – is used to offer an example of phenomenon-based American studies research that is contextualized beyond disciplinary boundaries. Public debates, personal experiences, and cultural analysis demonstrate the de facto ramifications of gun legislation on people's lives. Considering viewpoints both for and against Campus Carry, the discussion reveals deep-seated beliefs about guns as an intrinsic part of “Americanness.”

College and University Faculty Perceptions Towards Carrying Concealed Firearms on Campus

International Journal of Criminology and Sociology, 2017

This study uses a survey of university and college faculty members at two schools in the eastern United States to investigate their attitudes towards qualified faculty members and students carrying concealed firearms on their campuses. We found that faculty members who own a gun and are politically conservative were in favor concealed carry for qualified students and faculty, while liberal faculty member who are not gun owners were not.

Student Perceptions of Faculty, Staff, and Students Carrying Concealed Weapons on Campus

2018

Reactions to gun violence and potential policies regarding gun control are often reactions to fear with schools being the focal point of gun control dialogue. From elementary schools to college campuses, the concealed carry debate exists. Should we allow staff, faculty, and at the college-level, students to carry concealed guns? Students at a private college in Florida were surveyed in regards to their attitudes towards concealed carry and campus safety. We tested a number of hypotheses related to how much time students spend being exposed to media, student perceptions of safety, and their attitudes toward concealed weapons on campus. Results show low levels of support for armed campus safety and concealed weapons for faculty among our student sample. Students were even less comfortable with other students being armed on campus. In support of previous research, conservative students were more likely to believe the media spends too much time covering gun violence. While our results s...

Fear in the Classroom: Campus Carry at The University of Texas at Austin

Texas Education Review, 2021

This article examines the significance of fear of concealed handguns in the classroom at a public university in Texas, analyzing perceived changes in shared social space and the collective learning environment in terms of affect. This multimethod study provides a framework for understanding the factors behind the fear, which may be seen as personal, societal, or a dynamic combination of those manifested in local relationships. Furthermore, it explores disruptions of instruction and discussion, the profiling of other students as potential gun carriers, and the introduction of situational awareness in class. Based on ethnography conducted at The University of Texas at Austin, where campus carry was implemented in 2016, this article provides a context for those in the discipline of education, as well as instructors and administrators at other institutions of higher learning in the United States, to consider the complex nature of fear of guns and its impact on the classroom atmosphere.