RE: Guns+ College + Legal Right To Be On = Stupid

Fast forward five years from now. A troubled student has had a lapse in judgment and has chosen to inflict harm on other students by going on a shooting spree. Fortunately for that Texas campus, another gun toting student is there to stop him using deadly force and save the day. Hollywood has painted a noble, yet very unrealistic scenario; one that would be nothing short of a fairytale if such a serious situation was to occur yet again.
The blogger of "Blue in a Red Sea Makes Purple Waters" feels that it is very much a poor decision by the Texas Legislature. Many Americans feel that they have a right to carry armed protection and in light of many recent tragic events, perhaps rightly so. I don’t feel however that this right should be extended to Universities across Texas and couldn’t agree more with the commentary on this article. Have we really grown so fearful that we have lost our inability for reason? Allowing guns on campus would be nothing short of a revisit to the old fabled Wild West when everyone including grandma carried a firearm. The author is correct in thinking that it should be up to the Campuses and local officials to provide adequate security. We place our trust in the hands of these professionals on a daily basis and at the same time would ask that anyone bearing arms to also step in and risk their life to diffuse a situation.
Such tragedies often happen few and far between. It’s a shame when they do happen, but the worst thing we could do is to allow ourselves to be given a false sense of security. If such a bill were to pass, I would feel no safer at school than today.

Texas House OKs strip club admission fee tax

Charging a $5 fee to enter a strip club in an effort to gain budgetary monies may just sound like another ridiculous idea thrown in the hat; however it may prove to be a good source of income for the state. The State has already passed legislation regulating Sexual Oriented businesses to charge a $5 fee for admission that would go straight to the State in order to fund specific projects. The problem has come over the litigation of whether this form of revenue is constitutional. There has already been a ruling in which the current situation has gone against first amendment rights. Rather than waste further time and possibly miss out on this cash cow, Rep. Senfronia Thompson has pushed a bill through the Texas House that would replace this fee with instead a tax on what the business charges for admission. This is a great idea and the legislature is making the correct decision to at least still gain some money to add to their budget. Already endorsed by many strip club operators, many of which feel that in this economy the burden of having to pay $5 would be too heavily imposed on the customer causing a reduction of business. The house is smart to recognize the current bills potential. The sheer lobbying in the case has paid off by the Industries’ leaders. The most important thing to remember in this is to explore any and all of their motivations and in doing so realize that everyone is a winner. You have the industry imposing less on their consumers and also end litigation that the prior bill has received. Though it may not bring in as much money as originally intended, it would still generate some $4 to $6 million dollars annually; money that would fund sexual assault prevention and education programs.