Friday, May 27, 2011

Gettin' better

I am almost a dad of 3rd graders. Today is their last day of 2nd grade, and for the twins, it's bittersweet. They can't play with their school friends sans one, ober the summer, but we have a staycation planed to Padre. So that will be good.

I kind of don't lke them gong nto 3rd grade. That just means another year has been ti ked off the calendar for me. Luckily, I'm like fine wine. I just get better with age. My wife says I look like I'm about 37, gray hair and all. I thik I don't look a day over 35.

Wednesday, May 04, 2011

Guns in college classrooms

recently, there's been a big to do in the Texas Senate about allowing faculty, staff, administrators, and any adult over 21 who has been through the concealed handgun license (CHL) course in Texas the right to keep and bear arms for self-protection inside the classroom.

So much so, that two Senators are lying about it.

The first, Sen. Rodney Ellis(D)-Houston, claims that Houston Community College will be paying up to $900,000 in additional premiums if concealed handguns are allowed on campus. That would be a first, with 71 colleges in 5 states never having their premiums raised-and to quote an article by Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, "... Robert Greene—a concealed handgun instructor, former police officer, and licensed insurance agent—to do a little investigating of his own. Mr. Greene noted, “In all my years of writing commercial insurance for businesses, schools, churches, and the like, I have never had an underwriting questionnaire ask or even allude to whether or not the insured allows CHL holders to carry on the premises. I inquired of my underwriters, and not one indicated that this had ever been an underwriting question.”
I would suggest HCC get a new insurance company.

But the biggest, most bald-faced lie comes from Sen. Eddie Lucio, Jr. (henceforth known as Eddie #2). Eddie #2 claims that there is a secondary school that shares a college campus...buildings, library, gym, everything. So, since all of this is integrated, he can't POSSIBLY vote for the bill. But wait--these 14 and 15 year old girls were sharing lunchrooms, gyms, and the library with young, virile men?

Well, it turns out, after a little investigating, that that is not the case at all. (You can rad the entire thing here.

He then states (incorrectly) that it is illegal to have guns on elementary or secondary school grounds. He went as far as citing the "Gun Free Schools Act." Well, I guess Eddie #2 didn't read all the way down. In 18 USC 922 (q)(2)(B)(ii), it states you may have a concealed handgun on campus:
"if the individual possessing the firearm is licensed to do
so by the State in which the school zone is located or a political
subdivision of the State, and the law of the State or political
subdivision requires that, before an individual obtains such a
license, the law enforcement authorities of the State or political
subdivision verify that the individual is qualified under law to
receive the license;"

and:(v) by an individual in accordance with a contract entered into
between a school in the school zone and the individual or an
employer of the individual;

So I am guessing some deep pockets are at work here in Eddie #2's case. His is the one vote that can make sure mature adults can carry and protect themselves and others. Whatever his motivation, he is working against the best interest of the students.