Lions and Tigers and Guns... Oh My!

I went to Canada a few years ago. The immigration officer was friendly, asking all the usual questions about where I was from, visiting for business or pleasure, etc. Her last question threw me off guard. “Are you carrying any firearms?”

I answered with wide eyes, “Why would you think that?”

“You’re from Texas. Doesn’t everyone carry a gun?”

Along with, “Do you have a horse?” and “Are people still traveling in covered wagons?”, I've been asked the question a lot. 

The question of “Are you carrying a firearm?” may not be so ill placed come next year. The “campus carry” bill was approved by 20 to 11 in a preliminary count by the state Senate last week. Following the final vote on Thursday, the bill will then head to the state House.

During the last week, there have been Facebook and Twitter rallies by students and UNT faculty throwing opinions around like a hyped-up tennis match. Although I haven’t conducted an official public-opinion poll, the consensus seems to be, “We don’t want guns on our campus.” So what gives?

“Texas is one of 15 states this year where bills have been introduced to allow arms on campus,” said Andy Pelosi, the director of a campaign called Keep Guns Off Campus.  “The trend is backed by the gun lobby which seems to be picking one state a year.”

The current law allows public universities in Texas to decide whether they will allow guns on campus or not.  Only Texas A&M has chosen to do so. Under the new law, public universities will be required to allow open-carry while private universities will be allowed to choose.  

The gun lobby argues that the presence of concealed handguns will reduce violent crime. However, there are some officials who doubt this claim.

“There is great concern that the presence of handguns, even if limited to licensed individuals age 21 or older, will lead to an increase in both accidental shootings and self-inflicted wounds,” said University of Texas System Chancellor, William McRaven, in an open letter to lawmakers.

GOP leaders are not backing down and have fired back with their own reasons.

"Students have expressed concerns to me about their ability to protect themselves," said the bill's author, Sen. Brian Birdwell, R-Granbury, "It's time we don't imperil their safety."

"CHL classes are not exactly rigorous. I don't have confidence that someone besides a trained police officer would know how to take down a a shooter," says Dr. Tracy Everbach, associate professor at the University of North Texas. "I don't really se what guns and education have to do with each other. My main concern is some kind of accident or error. Some kid not knowing how to properly handle a gun."

This law should not pass for several reasons, number one being student, faculty and administrators resistance. Another reason has to do with age. The law requires the minimum age to be 21 and the carrier must have a CHL (concealed handgun license).   

“Parties, drinking, college kids 21-years-old or not. What are these people thinking?” said Stephanie Darnell, a UNT senior. “This law is supposed to allow us to protect ourselves, but what if the wrong person knows who has the gun and uses it against them?  You have to be able to get to it or hope your backpack doesn’t get ‘accidentally’ picked up in case it might have a gun in it?”

There will be restrictions on keeping firearms in dormitories, although those regulations have not been made clear.

It’s true that I’m not a gun enthusiast. I have pink pepper spray on my key chain, and I recently checked out Cabela’s stock of stun guns, including the 800K volt Zapstick (...with a flashlight. I hope they have it in pink). However, I am not opposed to responsible ownership of firearms. People love their guns, and our constitution ensures our right to bear arms. Citizens should be allowed the right to protect themselves and their families.

But this university? Not the place.

A Blog About Stereotype

"We all use stereotypes, all the time, without knowing it. We have met the enemy of equality and the enemy is us." Paul, 1998

ster·e·o·type (n) - a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing.  synonyms:  pigeonhole, conventionalize, categorize, label

A series of 18th century engravings by Dutch artists depicts couples and individuals from around the world. The Europeans are elegantly dressed and coifed. The Asians and Africans are shown half clothed and outdoors.We've all done it. Made assumptions based on preconceived ideas. 

"That driver doesn't know what they're doing. Must be a woman!”

“Pit bulls are aggressive dangerous animals.”

“He’s Asian.  He must be really smart.”

J. Ratelband & J. Bouwer Series of engravings by J. Ratelband & J. Bouwer first published in Amsterdam (1767-1779)

These engravings are depictions of these people as they were observed. These pictures are not assumptions of how people from Asia and Africa dressed. This is what the populations in these countries actually wore. Many countries around the world are marked by traditional dress, national foods and even national sports.

Eastern Indian women wear saris.  New Zealand nearly owns the sport of rugby.  Paris is the city of love and fashion and Italy, surely, invented pasta.

According to A Greek-English Lexicon by Henry George Liddell and Robert Scott, the word ‘stereotype’ derives from two Greek words meaning 'firm' and 'solid impression'. The word, stereotype, was actually coined by Firmin Didot, a French printer, who used the word to describe a printing plate that that was composed of fixed images as opposed to movable type. This plate was the base for many duplicates and copies.  

The original 'stereotype'

However, it was Walter Lippman, an American journalist and political commentator, that used ‘stereotype’ in a more psychological sense. In his book, Public Opinion, Lippman contends that people make up their minds before they define the facts based on preconceived notions.  

Stereotyping can be positive, negative or neutral and usually occurs with an almost unconscious awareness. It’s a way for the human mind to recognize certain patterns and somehow try to define those patterns.  It’s how people manage to decide if they will connect with another human being or move away from them.  

Marketers do it when they identify the group of consumers that will be interested in their product. PR professionals do it when they identify their target publics and determine how to frame the message they want to send. Educators do it when they determine the material they will teach in their class based upon what the average student of a certain age is capable of learning. Stereotyping is really a way to identify and categorize based upon information and/or past experience.

The negativity associated with stereotypes comes from the actions that we take once we make assumptions based on what we think we know.  Prejudice and discrimination, while not unrelated, are entirely separate concepts. These three terms are sometimes confused because of their interdependence.

Stereotype=categorization, classification, preconceived idea

Prejudice=preconceived opinion or idea not based on actual reason or experience

Discrimination=denying rights or participation to an individual or group of people because of their place in a certain group or social category.

Prejudice and discrimination is a problem worldwide, but the solution lies in our hands. It’s easy to make assumptions, jump to conclusions and judge a person or group of people based upon stereotypes we have in our own minds.  

Photo from stereotypeworkplace.com

As human beings, we will always need to process and classify. It’s how we deal with life, how we choose where we want to live, work, go to school, vacation, socialize. Just know that the person sitting next to you, living across the street from you, driving in front of you, living across the country or even the world from you: They want those things too.

It’s up to us, as individuals, to stop prejudice and discrimination. Before we can do that, we must recognize our own preconceived notions we hold close and how those affect how we act and treat others.

“Contempt prior to examination is an intellectual vice, from which the greatest faculties of mind are not free. - William Paley