The day before five Dallas law enforcement officers were murdered by a “lone gunman” in the most recent of the nation’s now-regular mass murders, three University of Texas at Austin professors filed suit against their university in an attempt to block the state’s new Republican-sponsored law requiring the university to allow guns on its campus and in its classrooms.
The professors — Jennifer Lynn Glass, Lisa Moore and Mia Carter — are asking a federal judge to grant an injunction that would block the law before the first day of class. In the suit, professors say they teach courses that touch emotional issues like gay rights and abortion. The possibility of guns on campus could stifle class discussion, which is a violation of the First Amendment, the suit says.
"Compelling professors at a public university to allow, without any limitation or restriction, students to carry concealed guns in their classrooms chills their First Amendment rights to academic freedom," the lawsuit says.
The university has opposed the law both before and after its passage, citing many of the same concerns raised in the professors’ lawsuit. In 1966 a gunman shot 46 people in and around the university’s Tower building, killing fourteen. It would remain the deadliest university shooting in American history until the Virginia Tech murders in 2007.
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At Daily Kos on this date in 2007—Have You Signed up for the Iraq Moratorium?
This is an Iraq protest that has something for anyone who opposes this war and occupation. If wearing a ribbon or armband is what you're comfortable doing, do that and you will be seen standing in opposition. Call your representatives in Congress, talk a friend into calling them, attend a vigil, attend a performance of the song "War" or stage one yourself. Do something and know you are doing it as part of a national yet locally-based movement against the war. Maybe for you this will be one small piece of a life filled with anti-war activism - but add that piece to amplify all our voices. Maybe it will be the moment you come out publicly as an anti-war activist - do that with pride.
But if you want to do something to end this war, if you have been wondering why there isn't a more public and organized anti-war movement, this is your chance. Each of us needs to take responsibility for making it a success.