New concealed carry gun law terrifies university teachers in Texas

Two weeks ago in Dallas, when a sniper was firing at the police, the officers who were trying to stop the carnage faced a terrifyingly confusing situation.

Texas is one of 45 states that allows citizens to openly carry firearms in a public place. That night, as many as 30 "open-carry activists," wearing camouflage and carrying rifles and handguns, had been marching alongside the peaceful protestors. It was a while before police could figure out who was actually doing the shooting.

In two weeks, the gun laws in Texas will change. But not in the way you might think.

Soon, all public 4-year colleges and universities in Texas will be required — by law — to allow people with the appropriate permits, to carry concealed weapons into their classrooms.

The date the law will come into effect, has particular resonance at the University of Texas at Austin.

August 1, 2016, will mark 50 years to the day, since a heavily armed young man ascended the clock tower on campus, and shot 45 people, killing 14. It is not lost on many people that the concealed carry law will come into effect exactly one half century later.

When you're carrying a gun...you're thinking about the people around you in terms of violence... We understand ourselves as being perceived as threats and as potential victims of violence or perpetrators of violence. And that's just something that should be alien to an academic context.- Simone Gubler

To prepare for the change in the law, faculty members at the University of Houston have been warned to "Be careful discussing sensitive topics" and to consider dropping certain topics from their courses. 

Simone Gubler is a PhD candidate and teaching assistant in the philosophy department at the University of Texas at Austin. She is the author of an article for The New York Times called "Philosophizing with Guns." We recorded this interview with her a few weeks ago, before the deaths of 5 police officers in Dallas.

Click the 'play' button to hear Laura Lynch's conversation with Simone Gubler.