Guns, not dildos: life in Texas

[RS Wood]

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-34507760

Texas university students in dildo protest over gun law
Texas students are planning to hang sex toys from their bags in protest
at a law allowing people to carry concealed weapons on university
campuses.
"You're carrying a gun to class? Yeah well I'm carrying a HUGE DILDO,"
Jessica Jin, organiser of Campus (DILDO) Carry, wrote on Facebook.
About 3,000 people have signed up for the protest, which is planned for
next year when the law takes effect.
Gun rights supporters have criticised the rally on the group's Facebook page.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott enacted the campus carry law in June. Under
the law, university presidents are permitted to create so-called
"gun-free zones".
"The State of Texas has decided that it is not at all obnoxious to
allow deadly concealed weapons in classrooms, however it DOES have
strict rules about free sexual expression, to protect your innocence,"
wrote Ms Jin, a student at the University of Texas at Austin.
"You would receive a citation for taking a DILDO to class before you
would get in trouble for taking a gun to class. Heaven forbid the
penis," she added.
Some students at the Austin university have appealed to University
President Gregory Fenves to impose limits on the new law.
Daniel Hamermesh, an economics professor at the university, said last
week he was resigning over concerns about his personal safety.
Supporters of gun rights have argued that mass gunmen target "gun-free
zones" such as university campuses and cinemas so they do not meet
resistance when they commit their crimes.
Some students are angry they can be reprimanded for bringing sex toys
on campus, but not for carrying concealed guns
Others say encouraging armed civilians to engage an attacker could lead
to more chaos and deaths.
A student was armed during a recent college shooting in Roseburg,
Oregon, but he did not use his weapon.
He was not in the building where the shootings occurred, and he also
said he feared police could have mistaken him for the gunman, putting
his life in danger.
Gun rights supporters have flooded the protest's Facebook page, mocking
the organisers.
"A grand example of the decline of value in American university
education," read one of the responses.
"As a parent I feel more comfortable with my children having a weapon
on campus rather than a dildo," read another.