Thinking of going into politics?
Join the state Senate at your own risk.
Last May, despite Gov. Rick Perry’s insistence against them, metal detectors were installed inside Texas’ Capitol building in response to shots being fired outside. The moral majority saw this as a perfectly logical and appropriate response and wondered why they weren’t there in the first place.
While the metal detectors still stand, logic indicates not much reason for them anymore. Citizens with concealed handgun licenses now go through a lane marked “CHL Access.” This lane goes around the metal detectors instead of through them.
Because no one in this lane needs to take off their shoes or dig out the dime in the bottom of their pocket, the lane moves much faster. So much faster, in fact, that some lobbyists and journalists are applying for concealed handgun licenses so they don’t have to wait in line.
So metal detectors aren’t invasive enough for airports, but they’re overkill in the state Capitol?
Americans weren’t promised the right to bear arms so that we may carry a weapon around wherever we please. We have that promise so that, if forced to defend our other rights with force, we won’t bring a knife to a gunfight.
To be fair, this policy is not as unsafe as it sounds. To obtain a concealed handgun license in Texas, one must prove at least a six-month residency, identity and citizenship and pass a gun safety course. Then, there’s a 60-day wait period before the state even says whether or not the application is approved. Not too many sociopaths will get this license.
Unfortunately, this is a case where one is too many. With the recent UT-Austin and Tucson shootings, the political unrest in Egypt and Cyclopean budget cuts on the way lingering like a specter in the back of the mind, a person going over the edge for whatever reason isn’t unlikely.
There is a time for gun rights. Hopefully, this country will never reach that point again. If that time does come, we’ll still have our guns at home. We don’t need to bring them into what is already a safe environment.
Now is not the time to loosen security around our leaders.
