Florida Senator Wants Armed School Staff at Colleges, Universities

A Florida senator is proposing an expansion of the state’s Guardian program that was established after the shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland in 2018; one that would allow college and university professors, faculty, and teaching assistants to legally carry a firearm openly or concealed on campus. 

Sen. Don Gaetz describes the bill as “sadly timed” and says he never wanted to file legislation like this, but with several high-profile shooting incidents on university campuses around the country this year, including a shooting on the campus of Florida State University back in April, he believes its important to take steps to improve campus security. 

“We’re living in a world where our institutions are being threatened,” Gaetz said, adding that he’s already filed another bill aimed at increasing protection outside of churches, mosques, and synagogues. “I’m sorry that I’m having to do this, but it just seems as though places in our society that we thought were safe, even sacrosanct, are now becoming targets.”

Although he anticipates objections that teachers may abuse the ability to bring a gun to school, Gaetz pointed out that there have been no instances of a school shooting sprouting from an unwell volunteer in the guardian program. This school safety initiative allows trained and vetted school employees to carry concealed weapons on K-12 campuses.

“None of the parade of terribles have happened that the opponents to the guardian program tried to advance,” he said. “While none of that has happened, people have been killed.”

Florida’s Guardian program has been successful, and there’s no reason why it shouldn’t be expanded beyond K-12 campuses. My only issue is that lawful carry should be open to college and university students as well. 

Some K-12 schools can have pretty sprawling campuses, but I’d argue that none of them have as big a footprint as the state’s biggest universities. Even if 10% of a university’s faculty choose to become Guardians, there’s no guarantee that one of them would be in a position to stop an active shooter intent on taking as many innocent lives as possible. Allowing those students who can already legally carry off campus to exercise their right to carry on campus as well would increase the odds that an active shooter would quickly run into resistance from an armed citizen. 

Previous attempts to adopt a campus carry bill have failed in the legislature, though, and that would almost certainly be the case next session as well. In fact, Gaetz’s bill could easily run into the same resistance. Senate President Ben Albritton and Sen. Kathleen Passidomo, who chairs the Senate Rules Committee, have been instrumental in blocking legislation to repeal the post-Parkland ban on gun sales to adults under 21 in recent sessions, and they have the power to keep Gaetz’s bill from being heard in committee or reaching the Senate floor as well. 

As much as I’d prefer a true campus carry bill, Gaetz’s legislation would at least be a step in the right direction, and Florida’s colleges and universities would be somewhat more secure if it’s signed into law. Most Democrats are going to oppose this, but hopefully Gaetz can get buy-in from the Second Amendment squishes in Republican Senate leadership. 

Editor’s Note: The radical left will stop at nothing to enact their radical gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.

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