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Florida Gulf Coast University has Mixed Feelings Toward Proposed Gun Bill

myfloridahouse.gov

A bill is moving through the legislature that would allow people to carry concealed firearms on all public Florida college and university campuses.

State Representative Greg Steube (R – Sarasota) is pushing a bill on the house floor that would allow faculty and students 21 years and older with concealed firearm licenses to carry guns on Florida college campuses.

Steube said the measure would make campuses safer by allowing gun owners to intervene in the case of a shooting.The bill is in response to recent situations like the library shooting at Florida State University in November.

Student-led groups at FGCU show both support and opposition for the bill. FGCU senior Amanda Frantz said she thinks it’s is a bad idea.

“I do not believe guns, like concealed carry, should be allowed on campus,” said Frantz. “The fear of not knowing who has a gun and who doesn’t scares me. People could say ‘I’ll protect you if someone comes on campus,’ but what if you’re that somebody? You already have the gun, you’re already on campus.”

Another senior, Jill Himmelfarb is the sports editor for the school’s newspaper. She is a gun owner, and said concealed carry could be beneficial to school safety.

“If people are trained properly, if they are licensed to carry a weapon, they don’t have any kind of criminal history or noted mental disorder, then concealed carry could protect the student body from a possible attack,” said Himmelfarb.

In a recent interview on WGCU’s Gulf Coast Live, FGCU Police Chief Steven Moore said the department believes increasing the number of guns on campus will not make the university any safer.

“We believe the proper avenue is more training on campus- faculty, staff, and students- so that they know how to respond in case of an emergency,” said Chief Moore.

In the same segment, Rep. Steube disagreed with Chief Moore.

“The Chief said ‘we’re going to train our students and we’re going to train our faculty to either run or show your hands so we know who the bad guy is,’” said Steube. “Well I can guarantee you that if a shooter comes through the door and you don’t have a firearm, you’re going to be ducking for cover and that shouldn’t be the only response that we as law abiding citizens should have in anywhere else in the state that we can respond to a threat like that.”

Steube also said that the majority of shootings are usually resolved in under 4 minutes by somebody other than law enforcement.

Despite opposition from Florida university presidents and police chiefs, the Senate Higher Education committee approved the bill on Monday.

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