
Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott took to Twitter to brag that "the dire consequences" of the state’s campus carry law "never happened." Nine days later, they happened.

As America struggles to heal from the horrific massacre in Las Vegas and struggles even harder to have a conversation about the devices used to commit it, the tragic results of letting guns proliferate unchecked in public spaces are all too clear.

And some people who have pushed ever more permissive gun laws, like Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, are receiving harsh reminders about the consequences of their actions.

Two years ago, Abbott signed into law Senate Bill 11, which requires colleges and universities in Texas to allow students to carry concealed firearms on campus. The law took effect one year ago.


Abbott took to Twitter recently to boast that liberals were completely wrong and the law has not made Texas schools any more dangerous:

Concealed carry poses no danger on Texas college campuses. The dire consequences never happened. @NRA #guns #txlege https://t.co/B2p0bsCwpr — Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) October 1, 2017

A claim of this sort invites trouble. Nine days later, campus carry took an ugly turn at Texas Tech University in Lubbock:

Officials with the Lubbock Police Department say Texas Tech police made a student welfare check late Monday afternoon. When the officers entered the room of 19-year-old freshman Hollis A. Daniels, officers found evidence of drugs and drug paraphernalia. Officers took Daniels to the TTU police station for standard debriefing. At the TTU police station, Daniels is accused of pulling a gun and fatally shooting an officer. The suspect ran off and a full SWAT call out was made. "During this time, the suspect pulled a gun and mortally shot an officer," Texas Tech Police Department Chief Kyle Bonath said. "The suspect fled on foot and later apprehended by TTPD near the Lubbock Municipal Coliseum."

As a public university, Texas Tech had no authority to opt out of the campus carry law. Last year, the chancellor of the university assured GOP lawmakers, "We’re trying to come up with a process that will follow the spirit of the law." The school subsequently passed guidelines allowing students with a handgun license to carry.

As much as Abbott and other Republicans would like to believe otherwise, letting anyone carry weapons anywhere they want is a threat to public safety. Less than two weeks after Abbott’s hubristic declaration otherwise, his reckless pandering to the NRA cost a law enforcement officer his life.

And unless everyone takes the threat of gun violence seriously, the bloodshed will only continue.