Daniel Hamermesh, who left his position as a professor at the University of Texas due to Texas’ campus carry legislation argued the law will “lead to a much higher grade[s] for students, because who wants to give a student a bad grade if you’re afraid they might shoot at you?” on Friday’s broadcast of CNN’s “Erin Burnett OutFront.”
Hamermesh said, “I have 500 students, a large class, and most of them are wonderful people, almost all are. Occasionally, a student comes into my office, disgruntled about a grade or something. The worst they’re going to do is throw a wastebasket around. With a concealed gun in their pocket, they could have a break, and pull out, and shoot at me and I don’t want to take that risk.”
When asked about the prospect that an armed student could stop a shooting, Hamermesh responded, “First of all, I don’t want to turn my classroom into the gunfight at the economics corral, that’s for sure. Secondly, some kid comes in and pulls a gun suddenly, I’m not going to react. I don’t expect most students to behave that way, and I know I would be the victim. I think it really chills my dealing with students. It’ll lead to a much higher grade[s] for students, because who wants to give a student a bad grade if you’re afraid they might shoot at you?”
Hamermesh added that other professors feel the same way, stating, “I’ve gotten a couple of people emailing me that just today. Most people are not going to quit their jobs at the end of this term because of the law, because very few people have the freedom of being old and having a lot of options to do so, but it will chill a lot of people, and it will, more important, scare some people away who might come and join our faculty. That’s what really bothers me.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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