The hour after the Florida State University shooting was haunting.
On FSU's outskirts, students and staff called loved ones and sobbed. On campus, it was a ghost town, with abandoned backpacks and bloody bandages.
Two people were dead. Six were injured.
Students were enjoying their days on FSU’s Landis Green. Then the shooting started, and they fled. Here’s some of their left-behind belongings. pic.twitter.com/2UteI0S3FJ
— Douglas Soule (@DouglasSoule) April 17, 2025
It shocked Tallahassee. And it shocked Florida lawmakers, who were only blocks away in the Capitol for last year's legislative session.
Republican Rep. Michelle Salzman of Escambia County said it's why, this year, she sponsored and lawmakers passed a campus safety bill.
"Everybody was just so responsive to, 'We have to come up with a plan,' " she said. "We have to do this better. We can't let this happen again."
The legislation requires public colleges and universities to make plans for emergency situations and help families reunite after.
It also mandates annual security risk assessments and mental health-related faculty training.
But, controversially, it lets schools appoint trained faculty and employees to carry firearms for protection.
Sheriffs' offices would have to help institutions that choose to participate in setting up "guardian" programs and provide training. Guardian programs already exist in public K-12 schools.
Andres Cubillos, an FSU graduate student, said this isn't what students want.
"They're not even a 10-minute walk away," said Cubillos, a volunteer with Students Demand Action, which advocates against gun violence. "Come to our campus. We have been begging to be heard. Our students are losing faith in the idea of our state legislators actually listening and responding to our issues."
Instead, he said lawmakers should address what he and other advocates have been calling for: "There absolutely are shortcomings," he said, referring to gun control policy. "One of the things that we have been advocating for here at the local level is increased protections around secure storage and ensuring that there are higher penalties for not having secure storage."
The bill lawmakers passed, HB 757, still needs to go to Gov. Ron DeSantis. Most of it would take effect immediately.
If you have any questions about state government or the legislative process, you can ask the Your Florida team by clicking here.
This story was produced by WUSF as part of a statewide journalism initiative funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
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