On Aug. 1, 1966, Charles Whitman ascended the University of Texas clock
tower here with a trunk full of weapons and unleashed 96 minutes of terror that
effectively became a template for mass shootings and aroused in the public a
new sensitivity to the threat of violence in public spaces, according to the New York Times.
Mr. Whitman, a 25-year-old student, Eagle Scout and Marine
veteran, killed a receptionist and two members of a visiting family inside the
tower. He then went onto the observation deck and began spraying sniper fire,
turning a tranquil summertime campus into a scene of chaos and death.
In the half-century since, Mr. Whitman’s savagery has been
echoed in mass shootings on other university campuses and at workplaces,
elementary schools, post offices, movie theaters and nightclubs. And what
seemed unthinkable in 1966 was re-enacted with alarming repetition in places
like Columbine High School in Colorado; Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va.; Sandy
Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.; and the Pulse nightclub in Orlando,
Fla.
As the University of Texas marks one of the bloodiest campus
shootings in United States history, it will do so on the day that it is newly
complying with a state
law permitting concealed firearms inside university buildings, a
measure enacted in 2015 by the Legislature in a victory for gun rights
proponents.
Legislative supporters of the law said it was needed to
protect students from the kind of violence that has taken place at the
University of Texas and other schools.
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