By a 10-3 vote, campus carry is again inching its way to the Florida Legislature after passing the House Higher Education and Workforce Subcommittee Wednesday.
HB 4001, sponsored by Rep. Greg Steube, R-Sarasota, would allow anyone 21 and older with a Florida concealed carry permit to bring their weapons onto public college and university campuses.
“I feel that concealed permit carry holders…[are] a pretty law abiding bunch and I’m pretty comfortable with their ability to carry and follow the law,” Steube explained to committee members.
Debate over campus carry has been intense since the bill’s introduction, with Wednesday’s meeting unfolding in a similar fashion. Students, law enforcement officers and gun rights groups voiced their opinions and concerns on the legislation.
Perhaps the largest student-led group supporting the legislation, Florida Students for Concealed Carry, came out in full force to explain to state lawmakers why the bill was necessary for student safety on college campuses.
Rebekah Hargrove, president of Students for Concealed Carry at Florida State University, said concealed carry permit holders are well-trained in gun safety and should be allowed to have the freedom to exercise both their constitutional rights and their own freedoms.
“This bill is about choice,” she said.
Other supporters of the bill said there was no evidence that allowing concealed carry permit holders to bring their guns on campus has increased gun violence.
“We hear the parade of horribles,” said Eric Friday of Florida Carry. “It hasn't happened here, it hasn't happened in the states where concealed carry is allowed."
Eight states currently allow concealed carry on their campuses, while 23 states leave the decision to ban or allow concealed weapons on campus up to the individual universities themselves.
But opponents of the legislation disagreed, contending the legislation is dangerous and would only lead to more gun violence, especially if firearms were brought into an already stressful environment.
“Adding more individuals with guns to these situations is like adding more gas onto a fire to put it out,” said Jennifer Proffitt of United Faculty of Florida, a statewide organization for higher education faculty and staff.
Debbie Harrison Rumberger of League of Women Voters of Florida pointed to a recent poll which found 73 percent of Florida voters were opposed to concealed carry. She asked legislators, “These are your constituents and we’d like to ask you, are you listening?”
The proposal has been backed by gun rights groups like the National Rifle Association, which was one of the strongest voices in support of the bill when it made its way through the Legislature last year.
Former NRA president Marion Hammer said keeping guns off campus gives wrongdoers freedom to commit senseless crimes against innocent victims.
“The plain truth is, campuses are not safe,” she wrote in an email Tuesday. “They are ‘Gun-Free-Zones’ where murderers, rapists, terrorists, and robbers may commit crimes without fear of being harmed by their victims.”
The bill now heads to the House Judiciary Committee.
Regular session begins in January.
Reach Allison Neilsen at allison@sunshinestatenews.com.
