(The Center Square) – A Florida Senate bill would permit the right to concealed carry on college campuses, with a senator sponsoring the bill saying “no magic force field” prevents criminals from carrying a gun to school.
Senate Bill 814 intends to authorize “persons to carry firearms on the property of any college or university,” according to the bill’s language.
The bill was filed by Florida state Sen. Randy Fine. When asked for comment twice each, neither Fine nor his legislative aide, Anna Budko, responded.
In a release from Fine, it was stated that bill 814 was filed “to extend concealed carry rights to college and university campuses.”
“There is no magic force field that keeps criminals from carrying a gun onto campus; this bill will ensure that students have the same rights on campus as they do off,” Fine said.
Fine “previously committed to file such legislation in the aftermath of the Muslim terror attacks of October 7, 2023 and many universities around the country refusing to protect their students from on-campus Muslim terror,” the release said.
“The Second Amendment does not take the semester off when you step on a college campus,” Fine said in the release.
“Adults should have the right to protect themselves on campus, particularly after so many universities across America chose to protect Muslim terror advocates over their own students,” Fine said.
Senate Bill 814 is currently referred to the Committee on Criminal Justice, the Appropriations Committee on Criminal and Civil Justice, and the Committee on Rules, according to the Florida Senate website.
If passed, the bill would go into effect July 1, 2025, according to the Florida Senate website.
Fine also recently filed a bill intended to delete “a prohibition on sales or transfers of firearms to persons under 21 years of age,” as stated in Senate Bill 94.
The bill, entitled Sales or Transfers of Firearms to Persons Under 21 Years of Age, is currently referred to the Committee on Rules and the Committee on Appropriations, as stated by the Florida Senate website.
Since July 2023, Florida has been a constitutional carry state – meaning one need not have a license in order to carry – a document from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services stated.
In April 2023, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law House Bill 543, which removed “the requirement for having a concealed firearm license to carry a concealed firearm in Florida,” the document stated.
