What happens when handguns become a familiar, everyday thing

Though now a grad student at UVA, I attended UT as an international undergrad when my home country Mexico was working through the catastrophic and detrimental effects of drug trafficking. To me and many others from my hometown, UT was a safety net like no other. It allowed us to live in a place where we could go out at night without fear of being caught in a drug-related shooting or a blockade. Austin allowed us to roam around the city freely, drive around fearlessly and speak our minds fiercely. In short, Austin provided us with political freedom. As a whole it seemed too good to be true.

The New York Times calls Austin “a liberal outpost in a conservative state.” The University of Texas at Austin is the breathing heart of the city and one of the many reasons Austin has gained its liberal classification inside ultra-conservative Texas. It’s something of a safety niche for college students. The medium-sized city is vibrant, laid-back, inviting and so open-minded, it’s easy to feel uninhibited and nothing short of free.

And on August 1^st, 2016, UT became too good to be true.

“Campus carry” went into effect just prior to the start of fall term this year. This law allows licensed holders to carry concealed handguns in university campuses across Texas.

It is not hard to imagine that UT Austin had a lot to say about this. Protests became so passionate, in fact, that they transformed into the creative epitome that constitutes the liberal collective consciousness of UT Austin – students carried sex toys on their backpacks to counteract the tumultuous heaviness of campus carry (and, arguably, to enhance its aesthetic experience). Campus protests, outspoken Academia and even the UT administration itself openly opposed campus carry. And for people like me, it’s a truly haunting nightmare.

So what happens now that campus carry is out there? Even though I no longer live in Austin, the initial shock and the nostalgia of my undergrad years sparked anger and threatened these memories to become regretful. But as thoughts and feelings started to settle, so did campus carry. The academic year has begun and there has not yet been an apparent impact sparked by the new law.

But that’s the thing, isn’t it? It’s not apparent. It will not ever be apparent. Because, as supporters for campus carry will argue, “most people won’t even notice” the change because guns are supposed to be concealed. That’s what the law dictates.

But what happens when everything else is apparent? What happens when handguns become a familiar, everyday thing – if not visibly then very much in the imaginary?

According to The New York Times, states like Idaho and Colorado that have passed and implemented campus carry claim that there has been “little noticeable impact.” The Texas government claims the same. But what are they referring to specifically? Little noticeable impact because there haven’t been any shootings? Have they ever considered measuring happiness and disinhibiting factors pre- and post-campus carry? Will UT do this?

Before August 1^st, 2016, you would assume that the person sitting next to you in class doesn’t have a gun. But is it then safe to say (pun intended) that after August 1^st, 2016, you can assume that the person sitting next to you in class does have a gun? It’s concealed, sure, but it’s there. It’s the norm, right? It’s the law, right? It’s just like how we assume fellow drivers on the road have a license.

I’m not talking statistics. UT has said they predict only a few hundred students will carry handguns. I’m talking an imaginative reality where freedom is a luxury instead of an inalienable right. Just like in many troubled countries, you have to assume it is probable that something might happen to you.

And isn’t this exactly the type of environment that campus carry is encouraging? What if UVA tried to implement this?