Florida lawmaker wants to allow concealed carry on college campuses
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TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A Florida lawmaker wants to make it legal to allow concealed carry guns at colleges and universities.

In Florida, if you’re over 21, it’s legal to carry a gun without a permit, except for school campuses, which are considered gun-free zones.

State Senator Randy Fine (R) 19th District wants to change the law. He introduced legislation that would allow people to legally carry concealed guns on college campuses.

“Schools are not gun-free zones today. They’re just gun-free from people who follow the law,” said Sen. Fine. “Your second amendment rights don’t go on vacation because you go to college, and so this would basically give adults the same concealed carry rights that they have off campus, on campus.”

News Channel 8 reached out to USF and the University of Tampa for comment but did not hear back.

Students had mixed feelings about the proposal.

“I think no matter what I would definitely be scared just, especially with all the school shootings going on, and especially them going more towards college campuses,” said UTampa student Jillian Woodcomb.

“I wouldn’t want them to have guns,” USF student Lenny Agai said.

“I would feel OK with it if it was definitely an extensive process, and not just something you could go and grab in a day’s notice,” said UTampa student Anna Fuge.

Senator Fine says he created the bill after the Israel-Hamas war.

“We saw universities around the country prioritize the safety of Muslim terrorists over their students. I realized we need to make sure the students can protect themselves,” said Sen. Fine.

CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations) Florida criticized the legislation in a statement.

“This bill is unnecessary and does not make students safer. Over the last year, many initiatives and security measures have been taken to make Jewish students feel safer on campus, while the fears of Muslims went ignored,” said Mari Marks, CAIR Florida Policy Manager. “Tallahassee should be focused on saving lives and engaging in peace. Instead, they are putting our students at risk for more school mass shootings. They should be able to go to school in peace and feel safe from one another.”

Similar measures have been introduced in recent years but failed to pass. However, Sen. Fine said he believed he would be able to get the measure passed.

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