![]() ![]() Our congressional delegation spearheads gun-control efforts. Yes, we have some of the strictest gun laws in the country. 1 exalts not the memory of the victims but the “good guy with a gun” approach to dealing with formidably armed assassins.Įven as I throw stones at gun-crazy Texas, I dwell in a glass house called Connecticut. The new law allows concealed handguns in classrooms and faculty offices. ![]() Why did it latch onto the first day of August this year to usher in a controversial “campus carry” gun law passed last year over protests by faculty members, students and dissenting lawmakers? Now, five decades after Whitman’s seminal slaughter, I marvel at the tone-deafness of the Texas legislature. Within two hours of his first shot, two extremely brave Austin police officers confronted him on his perch and killed him. But his time in the sun was shorter than he’d hoped. He had equipped himself with canned peaches, deodorant, sweet rolls and an alarm clock. Īpparently, Whitman had delusions of staying power. Another person shot by Whitman died in 2001 and that was ruled to have been from his wounds. Two other Peace Corps colleagues, David Mattson and Roland “Cap” Ehlke, were severely wounded. Behind it, I found Barbara, a fellow Peace Corps trainee, whose last name escapes me after so many years. Scared and looking for better cover, I scurried toward a brick building. I dove beneath the silver wing of a vintage fighter jet on display near where I had been walking. It was reportedly the first mass shooting on an American college campus, a story that sadly has been repeated many times since Whitman opened fire in 1966. Whitman, 25, had a commanding view of the lush campus with its Spanish-style mansions, splotches of distinctive Longhorns orange and tempting streams of pedestrians. I realized that shots were coming from the clock tower and I was well within range.įrom his sniper’s perch, grad student Charles J. As I walked across campus under the midday sun, I was startled by several thumping blasts. 1, I was headed for lunch after a Persian language class at the University of Texas in Austin. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |