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Campus Carry Bill Passes Second Test In The Senate

Florida law currently prohibits concealed weapons on college campuses.
Keith LaFaille via Flickr

An effort to allow concealed weapons on college campuses passed its second Senate committee Tuesday.

The hearing brought out many familiar arguments—concealed carry advocates say campus isn’t safe, opponents say guns won’t make it any safer.  But Democratic Minority Leader Arthenia Joyner—who happens to have a concealed weapons license herself—dusted off an argument that hasn’t come up lately.

“We shot one target and that was it,” Joyner said of her training, “and I could barely hold a gun.”

“We need to do more about safety,” she went on.  “It is an easy process to get a concealed weapons permit and leave not knowing any more than that you were able to hold it up and pull it and hopefully hit a target.  I learned the law, but I didn’t learn how to use a gun.”

The committee approved the measure along party lines.

Nick Evans came to Tallahassee to pursue a masters in communications at Florida State University. He graduated in 2014, but not before picking up an internship at WFSU. While he worked on his degree Nick moved from intern, to part-timer, to full-time reporter. Before moving to Tallahassee, Nick lived in and around the San Francisco Bay Area for 15 years. He listens to far too many podcasts and is a die-hard 49ers football fan. When Nick’s not at work he likes to cook, play music and read.