A bill that would make college students free to carry concealed weapons on campus has moved past a Florida House committee, inching Florida one step closer to becoming the eighth state to pass such a law.
Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Mississippi, Oregon, Utah, and Wisconsin, all have similar laws. 20 states, including Florida, have explicit bans on concealed weapons on campus, while other states leave it up to the universities.
According to the Tampa Bay Times, the bill may be up for a fight in the Senate, where an influential former-Republican senator is working to kill the proposal.
A November shooting at Florida State University left one university employee dead and two students wounded. Gun control advocates are touting this as a reason to oppose the gun law, while the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Greg Steube, R-Sarasota, cites the necessity of student self-defense.
“What I’m trying to do is prevent further loss of life by giving God-fearing and law-abiding citizens who have gone through background checks the ability to defend themselves and their families,” Steube told the Sun-Sentinel.
“Just because an area is called ‘gun-free,’ that doesn’t stop the criminals from walking on and creating havoc,” he explained to MSNBC. “These ‘gun-free zones’ certainly don’t protect the innocent people that are there just because there is a law prohibiting people from carrying a firearm.”
The law would only apply to 21-year-old students with concealed carry permits. “These are 21-year-old adults who have gone through background checks, who have gone through training, who do not have a criminal record,” Streube noted.
The measure still needs approval from two more House committees. Other Florida Republicans are backing the bill: “If you empower people to stop violence, they can (and) they will,” said House Criminal Justice Subcommittee member Rep. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala.
