The aim of this study is
to examine the views of Texas Tech community about the campus carry law. The
participants were 148 undergraduate and graduate students, and faculty at TTU.
Also, each member of the survey team interviewed 12 participants. Most
participants were Americans, but others were allowed to participate. The data
were collected through a survey that has 26 questions, which was divided among
eight international students, one teacher’s assistant and the instructor of the
class. The main result of the survey showed that the majority of the TTU
students and faculty were against the campus carry law. Also, this study showed
that the majority of TTU population believe that carrying guns would make women
safer. However, the majority of women at TTU were against campus carry. Also,
Texan participants supported the campus carry law more than non-Texans.
Keywords:
campus carry, guns, students, campus, Texas Tech University.
Ebtehal Alhashem
The issue of gun control is not new,
but the discussion about it arises frequently.
Also, the gun control issue is covered in the media every time some bad
event happens that is related to guns and death. The new issue about gun control is campus
carry. Campus carry is one of the
controversial issues that is discussed these days across the U.S, especially
among students, staff and faculty. The
campus carry issue has become controversial in Texas, even though other states
have done it and allowed individuals who have concealed handgun licenses to
carry weapons on campus (Kaufman, 2015).
Therefore, by next September 2016, Texas Tech University will begin to
apply this new law and allow faculty, staff and students who are 21 years old
and older to carry guns on campus (Michael, 2015). As a result, Texas Tech University will
provide guidelines this October to regulate guns’ use and identify the
restricted areas that do not permit carrying guns. Also, Texas Tech University will provide
classes for concealed handgun license holders to learn more information about
the new law (Michael, 2015).
The argument about the campus carry
issue is about whether the new law would make students safer on campus or would
increase danger. People who support the
campus carry law believe that they can protect themselves when they need to in
any dangerous situation such as during robbery and assault. Also, they do not think that the campus carry
law would increase murders, because most Texas Tech students are under 21 years
old, so they do not have concealed handgun licenses. On the other hand, individuals who are
against the campus carry law believe that this law would increase danger,
assaults and robbery because criminals will use guns to do whatever they
want. Therefore, campus would not be a
safe place for students.
Texas Tech University has 35,859
students in fall 2015, according to the Texas Tech website (2015). 29,237 students are undergraduates and the
total number of graduate students is 6,045.
Also, there are 2029 international students on campus (TTU, 2015) who
might have heard about campus carry law and maybe some of them are interested
to know more about how American students in Texas Tech think about this
issue.
As international students, we
decided to do research that is related to our writing class. We were curious to know the differences in
opinions among undergraduates, graduates and faculty. We were aware that there was some difference
between male and female students about campus carry. Also, we wanted to know the different points
of view between Republicans and Democrats.
We were interested to know if there was a relationship between students
who are from big cities and what they believe about the campus carry law.
We carried out a survey to figure out Americans’ opinions
and whether they supported or opposed the campus carry law. Although the number of participants in this
survey was not a big number and it might not be representative of all the Texas
Tech population’s opinions, the answers gave us a sense about how American
students at Texas Tech thought about this issue.
Literature Review and Hypothesis
Campus
carry is a nationwide problem and people have two opinions about it. There are people who support this idea, while
others reject it. Texas is one of the
states whose legislature passed the campus carry law, and universities will
allow those who have concealed gun licenses to carry their guns on campus. According to Kaufman (2015), 80 percent of
students would not feel safe if universities’ populations have guns. Also, 90 percent of faculty are against the
campus carry law (Kaufman, 2015).
According to Alford, the decision to allow campus carry should be taken
from colleges’ populations, not from people who left college a long time ago
(Alford, 2015). Cattanach mentioned that
most students do not want guns on campus (Cattanach, 2015).
On the other hand, Madison Welch said that
universities in Texas would not be unsafe places, because people who have
licensed guns tend to use guns less than those who do not have them (Welch,
2015). Supporters also believe that
having guns would allow individuals to protect themselves from sexual assault
(Kaufman, 2015). Also, we believe that
the administration of Texas Tech is against the campus carry law. According to Morgan, Texas Tech would need $7
million dollars as additional expenses for safety procedures (Morgan,
2015). Reindle supports the idea that
universities’ administrators do not agree with the campus carry law.
Hypothesis: Therefore,
based on what we have read, we predicted that the majority of students and faculty
at Texas Tech University would be against the campus carry law.
Republicans and Democrats have
different opinions about guns. Our
general information about both parties was that the Republicans were usually
supported carrying and using guns more than Democrats. According to McCarthy,
Republicans tend to believe that having guns will increase safety at home more
than Democrats. The percentage of
Republicans who support this idea was 81%, while 41% of Democrats do, according
to 2014 statistics (McCarthy, 2014). Also,
35% of Republicans strongly support the Campus Carry law, which is more than
Democrats with only 8% (Concealed Carry…, 2015).
Hypothesis: based on this
information, we believed that Republicans in the TTU community were more likely
than Democrats to feel that carrying guns on campus would make them safer.
In addition, we believed that there
was a difference between male and female opinions about the campus carry
law. Women tend to avoid situations that
are related to violence and they are less confident about using guns. According to Awr Hawkins, women should not
have guns on campus because women are not as strong as men and there is a
higher chance to grab guns from them (Hawkins, 2015). The increasing number of weapons will
increase the number of female murders consequently. Also, because women tend to be threatened by
and scared of shooting more than men, women in general would be against campus
carry.
Hypothesis: based on this
information, we suspected that Texas Tech female students would more likely be
against campus carry than male students.
It
has been said that Texas is a state of cowboys who like to own guns, especially
people who live on ranches or farms. Also,
Texans tend to support carrying and using, especially people who grow up with
parents who use guns. Because the TTU
campus is in Texas and I think the majority of TTU students are from Texas, I
thought most students would say they would carry guns on campus when they were allowed
to.
Hypothesis: I believed
that Texans at TTU community would be more likely to support campus carry law
and carry guns on campus than non-Texans.
Family has a strong influence on our
beliefs. The ideas that we have and our
response to events are influenced by our families. Therefore, I think our opinions about campus
carry law depend on how we are raised.
People who were raised in families that own guns or use guns for hunting
tend to see carrying guns on campus as not a big issue, and it is like carrying
cellphones. Also, I think people who were using guns during their childhood
with guidance of their parents would be more likely to carry weapons on campus
and would be more confident to use them without worry they need practice.
Hypothesis:
I suspected that students who were raised in homes that had guns would be more
likely to carry guns on campus.
Therefore,
we conducted a survey for TTU students, faculty and staff to know what the Texas
Tech population believes about the Campus Carry law and whether our hypotheses
would be right or wrong.
Methods
Campus carry is an important issue for us
as international students at Texas Tech University, and because of that we were
wondering how American students at TTU felt about this issue. Therefore, we did a survey for the TTU
community; only American students, faculty and staff were chosen to answer our
survey. The survey had 26 questions.
Each student was responsible for surveying 12, 6 males and 6 females. The participants were from undergraduate and
graduate students and faculty. Also, all
participants were to be Americans and international students were not included
in the focus group. The class consisted
of 8 students, one teacher assistant, and our instructor. Our agreement was that the survey focused
only on the TTU community. The total
number of students that we surveyed was 148, which is a small number and not
representative of the more than 35,000 students at TTU. We threw away one survey because the answers
were not complete. Most of the survey
questions were Yes or No format.
We asked TTU students about their place
of origin and where they grew up, such as ranch or farm, large city, or small
town. Also, we asked if there were guns
where they grew up to figure out if there was a relationship between supporting
campus carry law and the desire to carry guns on campus with individuals who
grew up in homes that had hand guns.
Also, the survey included a question about the political party that they
identified themselves with, their gender, and if they were from Texas or from other
states. One of the questions that might
not be related to guns was about if they smoked or not. I think this question is interesting because
smokers and people who carry guns are both risk takers. It might be that smokers who do not care
about their health and losing their lives earlier, tend to carry guns without being
concerned about the dangerous weapons that they carry. Therefore, the result will show if there is a
relationship between smoking and carrying guns.
One of the questions was about to identify the participants’
college. However, the number of
participants was small, and that did not cover all colleges. Therefore, we could not figure out if there
was a relationship between campus carry beliefs and colleges.
Results
We were curious
about what the TTU community would think about campus carry and whether our
hypothesis about campus carry would be right or wrong. Therefore, we did a survey that was related
to carrying guns on campus and to answer our hypotheses. The first hypothesis was about whether the
majority of students and faculty at TTU would be against the campus carry
law. The first question that we wrote to
answer whether our hypothesis was right or wrong was, “Will you get a gun and
/or carry on campus when you are allowed to?”
The result of the first question was 27% of males answered yes and 70%
answered no, and 12% of females answered yes and 88% answered no. The second question that answered this
hypothesis was “Are you more likely to carry a gun, if you know that more
people are carrying guns?” The result
was that 32% of the participants answered yes and 68% answered no. The third question that also confirmed this
hypothesis was, “Do you think women are safer if they carry guns?” The result
was that 56% answered yes and 44% answered no.
Furthermore, 100% of faculty who participated in the survey were against
campus carry. Therefore, we were
right. The majority of students and
faculty at TTU were against the campus carry law. However, the majority believed that women
would be safer.
The second hypothesis was about
whether the Republicans in the TTU community were more likely than Democrats to
feel that carrying guns on campus would make them safer. The question that we wrote to answer whether
our hypothesis was right or wrong was, “Which party do you identify with?” The result for this question was that 31%
were Republicans and 20% were Democrats.
Also, in answering the question, “will gun carry make campus safer?” the
result was 76% of Republicans supported campus carry and 10% of Democrats
supported campus carry. Therefore, we
were right. Republicans were more likely to feel that campus carry would make
them safer than Democrats.
The third hypothesis was about whether TTU
female students would more likely be against campus carry than male
students. As a result, our hypothesis
was right; women would more likely be against campus carry. However, women would feel that carrying guns
would make them safer. The question that
we wrote to answer whether our hypothesis was right or wrong was “Are you male
or female?” The result of this question
was that the total number of females who filled out the survey was 72, and
there were 76 males. The second question
that answered our hypothesis was “Will you get a gun and/ or carry on campus
when you are allowed to?” We found that
88% of females answered, no they would not get guns, and 12% answered yes,
while 70% of male answered, no they would not get guns, and 27% answered yes. Also, the question that we used to answer
this hypothesis was, “Do you think women are safer if they carry guns?” The
result was 51% of women answered yes they think women are safer with guns and
49% answered no. also, 60% of mail answered yes they think women are safer with
guns and 40% answered no.
The fourth hypothesis was about whether
Texans at TTU would be more likely to support the campus carry law and carry
guns on campus than non-Texans. The
question that we wrote to answer whether our hypothesis was right or wrong was
to choose between from Texas or from USA, not Texas. We found that 60% of Americans were from
Texas and 40% not from Texas. The
percentage of Texans who were willing to carry guns was 25% and the percentage
of non-Texans who were willing to carry guns was 17%. Therefore, our hypothesis
was right, because the percentage of Texans at TTU who were willing to carry
guns was higher than participants from other states who were willing to carry
guns on campus.
The
last hypothesis was about whether students who were raised in homes that had
guns would be more likely to carry guns on campus. The question that answered this hypothesis
was, “Were there guns in the home you grew up in?” We found that 52% answered
yes and 48% answered no. Also, we found
that the percentage of those who grew up with guns who said they would carry
guns was 27% and the percentage of those who grew up with guns who said they
did not carry guns was 73%. Therefore,
our hypothesis was wrong, because the majority of participants who grow up with
guns who did not carry guns on the TTU campus was higher than those who grew up
with guns, but would carry guns.
Discussion
Campus carry is
one of the issues that is discussed at Texas Tech University these days. There are
different opinions about this issue. Some people support the campus carry law
because this law would allow to students to defend themselves during a
shooting, whereas some people are against this law because it would increase
the shooting on campuses. Therefore, we
did a survey to find out how the TTU community thought about this issue. We were curious about whether the TTU
community would be against or would support the campus carry law.
The first hypothesis was that we thought
that the majority of the TTU community would be against the campus carry. We found that although the majority believe
carrying guns would make an individual safer, the fact was that we were right
that the majority of the TTU community was against campus carry. This result showed interesting information,
because everyone trusted himself or herself, but they did not trust
others. The reason could be that campus
carry would increase murders on campus and campus carry would encourage TTU students
to have guns, which could make the TTU campus more dangerous. Also, the survey showed that all faculty were
against the campus carry law and they did not trust students to carry guns in the
classroom. The reasons may be that
faculty spends long hours on campus and they may feel that students who get low
grades consider them enemies.
The second hypothesis was that we
thought that Republicans in the TTU community were more likely than Democrats
to feel that carrying guns on campus would make them safer. The fact was that
we were right, because we found that Republicans supported campus carry more
than Democrats. The reason is that
Republicans were more likely than Democrats to feel that campus carry would
make them safer. This result was
expected because usually Republicans support guns more than Democrats in the
society. The interesting information was
that most participants considered themselves independent in Texas, which is
considered a Republican state, especially since the majority of participants
were from Texas. The reason that most
participants called themselves independent may be that they are still too young
to decide their political views.
The third hypothesis was that we thought
that TTU female students would more likely be against campus carry than male
students. The fact was that we were
right, because most women who answered the survey were not going to get
guns. The reason could be that women are
more likely to be against violence.
Also, men were generally more confident and courageous to carry and use
guns than women. On the other hand, most
people on the TTU campus believed that women would be safer because they could
protect themselves with guns.
The
fourth hypothesis was that we thought that Texans at TTU would be more likely
to support the campus carry law and carry guns on campus than non-Texans. The fact was that we were right, because we
found that the percentage of Texans who were likely to carry guns was greater
than the percentage of others who were willing to carry guns. The reason could be that Texas is considered
a Republican state and Republicans support the freedom to carry guns in
American society. Also, carrying guns is
part of Texans’ culture, especially for people who live on ranches or farms.
The last hypothesis was that we thought that
students who were raised in homes that had guns would be more likely to carry
guns on campus. The fact was that we
were wrong, because the percentage of students who grew up with guns and were
more likely to carry guns was less than that of students who grew up with guns,
but would not carry guns. The reason
might be that they know how dangerous guns are, and know they should be
responsible to have guns. Also, students
who grew up in houses that had guns may have had bad experiences that were
related with guns, and they were more aware of the negative effect that could
happen on campus when the campus carry law applies and most students carry
guns.
Although
the number of students who participated in this survey was small, it gave us
information about TTU students’ beliefs that are related to campus carry. Also, this survey was not representative of
the TTU campus and did not cover the different religions or races. In the
future, the survey should be bigger, and should include all colleges. Also, I think it would be interesting if we
did a survey that covered international students and whether they would carry
guns when they see their American friends have guns. I am curious if there are differences between
international students about the campus carry law and if their opinions about
carrying guns on campus would be influenced by their cultures and background.
Conclusion
Campus carry law is one of the issues
that students are concerned about because it is related to their safety. After
the campus carry law passed in Texas, universities were to allow students,
faculty and staff who have concealed handgun licenses and who are 21 years old
and older to carry guns on campus. Therefore, universities started to make
procedures about implementing the law. For example, campus should consider
several issues before the law begins to apply next September 2016, such as free
gun zones, providing safety lockers for guns and offering forums to learn more
about this law.
The argument about campus carry law is
between those who support carrying guns on campus and those who are against
this law. People who support campus carry law believe that carrying guns would
make them safer, whereas people who are against campus carry law believe that
campus carry law would make campuses less safe and crimes would increase. Therefore,
we did research about the campus carry law and collected data through a survey.
The focus group was 148 American students and faculty members from Texas Tech
University. Although the number of participants
was not representative of Texas Tech University population that has 35, 859
students, it gave a sense about what the TTU community thinks about this issue.
In beginning of the class, I was worried
about doing survey because it was totally new experience for me. However, I have not encounter any
difficulties with finding participants who were willing to help me and answer
the survey. Although I was responsible
to find only 12 participants, it gave me experience to do bigger number of
participants in the future. Also, this
experience gave an idea of American students who I have ever get contact with
them since I am international student and I know American people only through
movies.
The main result showed that the majority
of the TTU community was against the campus carry law, and they believed that
carrying guns would reduce the safety on campus. Also, all faculty were against this law which
showed that faculty would not feel safe to be in class with students that carry
guns. I think the impact of the campus
carry law will be obvious after applying the law in September 2016. It will show the real result whether the
effect will be positive or negative. Also,
I wonder if students who were against campus carry would carry guns after
seeing guns on campus as something normal. I wonder if faculty would accept for their
students to have guns in classrooms in the beginning of applying this law and
if faculty would change their minds about guns after a year or more. I think the Texas Tech administration would
be stricter or more lenient about the way that they apply this law on campus
depending on the positive or negative events that might happen on campus. The faculty at TTU should have more power and influence
on the application of the campus carry law, because they spend hours and years
on campus as their work place.
I hope the campus carry law would
not change the safety on campus, and international students would not feel
worried about this issue, which might impact their desire to study in states
that pass this law. Although the campus carry law might increase the violence
or crimes on campus, it would provide the opportunities for the TTU population
to defend themselves instead of watching someone killing others, similar to
what happened in the most recent shooting cases. In my personal opinion, weapons should not be
allowed for every person, and weapons should be only for police officers,
similar to my country, Saudi Arabia.
Unfortunately, that is impossible in the United States, because the National
Raffle Association is influential in the U.S.A.
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