UT Austin Professor: I’m Quitting over New Campus ‘Concealed Carry’ Law

BREAM: “Developing tonight, 11 days after the shooting at a college campus in Oregon, a professor at the University of Texas in Austin is making news, with the announcement that he’s quitting his job at the school because of a new law that will soon allow concealed carry in Texas higher  classrooms. Economics professor Daniel Hamermesh wrote the school’s president saying, ‘...my perception is that the risk that a disgruntled student might bring a gun into the classroom and start shooting at me has been substantially enhanced by the concealed-carry law. Out of self-protection, I have chosen to spend part of next fall at the University of Sydney, where among things, this risk seems lower.’ Joining me now, professor of economics, Daniel Hamermesh. Professor, thanks for joining us.”
HAMERMESH: “Thanks for having me.”
BREAM: “I know you’ve been at the school for more than two decades. Was this a tough decision for you?”
HAMERMESH: “It wasn’t for some reasons. Namely, I’m 72, I have a large pension. I have a number of outside opportunities. What this law did is really pushed me over the edge saying it’s time to get out of here.”
BREAM: “What specifically is your fear? Because you know those on the other side will argue if more people are armed on campus, that maybe they could be, somebody could stop a potential perpetrator.”
HAMERMESH: “The issue is not so much somebody coming into the classroom from the outside. It’s rather a student in the classroom, or more likely a student in my office who is upset about a grade and who pulls a gun on me. I’m not going to carry a gun. I don’t want to be involved in a gun fight. The thing is I teach classes of 500 students. So, you know, any student who really not likes to do much, with that many is at the hands risk, I don’t want to bear that risk.” 
BREAM: “If someone is disgruntled or disturbed enough to show up at a college campus with a gun with a potential plan of harming you or another professor, how does this new law make that any different? It would make them— legal for them to carry a concealed gun, but if somebody is disturbed enough that they want to carry out a crime, or mass killing, or even just target one person, target you, how does this law really make it any more permissible for them to do that?”
HAMERMESH: “I’m not so much worried about the person who has planned ahead of time to come to campus or my office. I’m worried about a student who comes in to complain about a grade, and I did a fair number of them with the class that like, who is carrying a concealed hand gun, gets angrier and angrier, suddenly snaps, pulls out the gun and shoots me. It’s not just me, but any professor who teaches who teaches a large number of students faces the same increased risk. That’s what the risk is.”
BREAM: “OK. So you are worried that somebody who is legally licensed to carry, who otherwise is a law abiding citizen but gets upset over a grade may escalate into them shooting you?”
HAMERMESH: “Absolutely. I’ve had students get very angry in class. I’ve had other professors mention to me in the last few days things that disgruntled students do. Remember, these people, under age 25, guys’ brains are not fully formed and they tend to occasionally go just berserk, and this increases the risk to all faculty of that going berserk resulting in something fatal.”
BREAM: “OK. So the school does say there’s a statement that they are going to continue getting input from faculty and from others as they work out exactly how this is going to work on campus. They’ve acknowledged your letter and your worries, potential concerns about this. And I certainly wish you the best in your teaching endeavors elsewhere. Professor, we thank you for your time.”
HAMERMESH: “Thanks for having me.”