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University of Texas Students Rally Against Campus Gun Bills

AUSTIN Texas

On the second anniversary of the Virginia Tech shooting rampage, about 300 University of Texas students marched to the state Capitol to protest bills that would allow concealed firearms on Texas college campuses.

The rally Thursday at the Capitol steps included a bell tolling 32 times for the victims killed by a student gunman at Virginia Tech in 2007. Some of the students held signs that read “More Guns, More Blood” and “Remember VT.”

Supporters say allowing concealed weapons license holders to carry their guns on campus would reinforce their constitutional right to bear arms. Opponents say it would make campuses more dangerous, with the potential for typical college disputes over grades, romances and fraternity rivalries to become deadly.

The march drew a few counter protesters. Luke Farmer, who carried a neon green sign that read “Don’t Listen to Liberal Fear Mongers,” said the rampage at Virginia Tech might have claimed fewer lives if students had been allowed to carry guns and had a chance to fight back.

“Just sitting around waiting for the police to arrive doesn’t sound like much of a plan,” Farmer said.

John Woods, a student at Virginia Tech in 2007 whose girlfriend was among those killed, disagreed.

“The fact that the Texas gun lobby looks at the horror of the Virginia Tech tragedy as an opportunity to push its deadly agenda is utterly disgusting to those of us who lost loved ones in this tragedy, and to those who survived as well,” said Woods, now a graduate student at UT.

 



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