The Youth Are Still Defenseless.

[SpaceFrank]

I'm a 23-year-old graduate student at the University of Houston. The UH campus, like the vast majority of college campuses across the country, is a supposed "gun-free zone." I was working late in my office last night (Saturday) when I received the latest email report of gun-related violence on what is supposed to be a "gun-free" campus. The report is as follows:
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SUSPECT DESCRIPTION: Black male in his 20's, approximately 5'09", Slim build with three gold teeth in the front of his mouth. Suspect was wearing a dark jacket and a white shirt and dark pants.

WEAPON: Dark colored unknown type of hand gun.

SYNOPSIS: A male student reported an unknown black male robbed him at gun point in UH Lot 16-C. The student was then forced to drive the suspect to a nearby ATM location and then to the Rosenberg area to another ATM location. The suspect jumped out of the students vehicle and into another vehicle in Rosenberg. The student was not injured.
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For those who don't know the area, Rosenberg is about 45 minutes away; that's where the victim was forced to drive. This happened at 4 in the afternoon in a parking lot that is right next to four large academic buildings. Not the middle of the night, not in some secluded corner parking lot. Quite a few students are on campus on Saturday. I got there myself only an hour or so after this supposedly happened.

Maybe I'm missing something here. Didn't the robber get the memo? Doesn't he know he isn't supposed to carry a gun on our campus? This isn't the first time. Just a week ago, another student was robbed at gunpoint on the other side of campus. Two months ago, a homeless man was shot in the head as he slept on a bench in the bus stop next to our basketball stadium. It should be pretty obvious that the "gun-free zone" isn't so gun-free.

I don't have to explain the logic to you guys. I'm just sick of criminals being able to carry on like this. With the rights of students, faculty, and staff restricted by the state, it's like shooting fish in a barrel. Pardon the expression. Anyway, HB 1893 made it out of the House Public Safety committee last week; here's to hoping it passes! Then maybe once a couple of these scumbags get shot trying to take someone's wallet, the rest will realize they have to go get a real job.

[JohnK87]

You need to go back to class. You obviously don't grasp the socioeconomic factors that drove this oppressed young man to a life of crime. A few hundred bucks and a half tank of gas is a SMALL price to pay to help redress the oppressed!

[chroode]

Get in touch with this group.

Students for Concealed Carry on Campus - ConcealedCampus.org

[Scarecrow]

gun free zones just welcome criminals old and young.. big and small. strong and weak. why?? because the defenseless have a hard time fighting back when the fight is not even.

[SpaceFrank]

JohnK87, I think communication is the problem. How are the poor and repressed people of this community supposed to know the laws if they don't own a TV or a computer? I think part of the $XXX Billion stimulus package should be set aside for buying laptops for inner-city youth, so they will be more in touch with state and local ordinances.

chroode, already done.

Update: the campus police apparently caught the guy. While that is good, it would have been even better if it had never happened in the first place.