“At places like Columbia and Yale,” Gov. Ron DeSantis posted on X, “Hamas protesters rule the roost, and the universities are too weak and scared to do anything — even as these mobs harass Jewish students and faculty. If you try that at a Florida university, you are going to be expelled.”
That’s well and good, but expelling students or even having campus police nearby doesn’t necessarily forestall a dangerous situation. What is proven to most effectively prevent threats is the robust presence of the Second Amendment. As such, gun-free zones on Florida’s campuses should be eliminated to empower students with their constitutional rights.
Florida State University, for example, is less than a 10-minute car ride from the Governor’s Mansion. Yet as a former resident of Tallahassee, I can personally attest that the campus is not especially safe.
In 2014, a deranged alumnus shot two students and a library employee in and around FSU’s Strozier Library. One of the victims was a concealed carry-permit holder. However, being in a gun-free zone that day, he was unarmed. Instead of being able to protect himself and others, he was rendered defenseless. He was hit in the leg and the other student was paralyzed by the attacker.
That same year, FSU student Shayna Lopez-Rivas was sexually assaulted on campus. She told the press that, though she had pepper spray and “ran for blue lights,” her attacker had a knife and was “faster, stronger.” Lopez-Rivas added that, with a gun, the outcome would have been different. “The way that I carry it now, I would have been able to prevent what happened to me.”
An armed and well-trained bystander can stop a criminal on the spot. But in order to deter dangerous activity in the first place, criminals need to know that they could face deadly consequences for their actions. Florida needs campus carry, plain and simple.
As a father, I don’t want my little girl to be vulnerable because misguided laws prevent her from protecting herself. As a former police officer, I know that time is of the essence in an emergency situation. Our children can’t wait five to 10 minutes for law enforcement to arrive. Just a few seconds can mean — and have made — the difference between self-defense and assault, rape and even murder.
Right across the border from Tallahassee in Thomasville, Georgia, students at Southern Regional Technical College are permitted to protect themselves by carrying. SRTC is not alone. In 2022, about 150 colleges reported that they allow guns on campus in some capacity.
And because FSU’s campus is sprawling, along with Florida A&M University’s campus bordering FSU, close to half of Tallahassee is a gun-free zone. In fact, FSU’s campus lies right across the street from the Florida State History Museum, which means a Floridian visiting the museum can accidentally cross an invisible line and commit a crime.
Florida students deserve the safest educational environment possible, yet lawmakers refuse to advance legislation that would repeal gun-free zones. DeSantis even refused to use his bully pulpit after Republican House Speaker Paul Renner announced that he and his colleagues had “no appetite” to debate and vote on House Bill 1619, which would have legalized both open carry and campus carry in Florida.
DeSantis regularly proclaims that Florida is the freest state in the nation, but on guns, the facts suggest otherwise. Florida is the only red state that has mandatory waiting periods and laws prohibiting open carry. What’s more, Florida Republicans have undermined the Second Amendment by sponsoring red-flag laws and nixing pro-gun legislation. Notably, John Thrasher fought campus carry legislation both as president of FSU and as a Republican in the Florida Senate.
The 2025 legislative session must prioritize catching up with other parts of the country in the restoration of Second Amendment rights to citizens. With mayhem spreading at colleges and universities from coast to coast, state Rep. Randy Fine, who is currently running for the state Senate, has announced plans to introduce campus carry legislation.
While an encouraging start, the governor’s voice is still needed to rally the countless apathetic lawmakers to advance such pro-gun legislation. The Republicans in Tallahassee should be trying to out-do one another, and they should recognize that liberty and the pursuit of happiness are absolutely contingent upon the capacity to protect one’s own life.
Luis Valdes is the Florida state director for Gun Owners of America, a “no-compromise” grassroots lobbying organization with over 2 million members nationwide. He lives in Brevard County. Follow him @RealFLGunLobby.
