ONE SHINING MOMENT IN THE SUNSHINE STATE

Date: March 26, 2025
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(North Salem, NY): The Campaign to Keep Guns Off Campus (KGOC) is pleased to share the warm and resounding news of Senate Bill 814 failing in Florida yesterday, a dangerous measure that would have permitted guns on college campuses, including dormitories and resident halls, across the Sunshine State.

KGOC has been on the ground for many years mobilizing efforts and amplifying calls for sensible gun violence-prevention legislation to prevail from the halls of Tallahassee.  It is with no small level of pride the organization bears witness to SB 814’s defeat, particularly at a moment, and in contrast, when a rash of similarly crafted bills have gained momentum and passed in recent weeks.  With those floodgates open for “campus-carry,” college faculty and students in Wyoming and South Dakota will not share the same relief nor conditions of common-sense security as their peers in Florida.  College choice has critical and dire dimensions today, state by state.

Leading the charge for SB 814 was Republican Senator Randy Fine.  However, several of his colleagues, many fellow Republicans, deemed his measure too drastic to support.

Democratic Senator Carlos Guillermo Smith, a long-time gun violence prevention champion, was among the “no” votes on the Senate Criminal Justice Committee, providing a convincing slate of reasons as to why the bill would be disastrous for Florida and its campus environments.  Citing studies that have found correlations between access to guns and higher suicide rates and no clear evidence to show “campus carry” makes students safer, Smith denounced the bill as “poorly written” and a “publicity stunt.”

“It’s a dangerous combination to take what is already a high-stress environment for young people on college campuses, where they’re facing academic pressures, where there’s mental health struggles, where there’s social conflicts, where there’s rampant alcohol and drug use and abuse and sexual assault, and add firearms to the equation,” Senator Smith said.

Broward College Associate Professor and United Faculty of Florida President Teresa Hodge emphasized firearm training is not a central component in her profession nor ever should be.  “You should not shift the responsibility for protecting students from trained law enforcement officers to private individuals who do not have the training to deescalate a situation or deal with life-threatening confrontations,” she said.

Also opposing the measure was University of Central Florida student Muah Dahn, an organizer with Florida Student Power who had attended high school with the man who shot up a Jacksonville Dollar General store in 2023.  Dahn noted that prior to the shooting the armed man had unsuccessfully sought entry to Edward Waters University due to existing policies and security actions taken by trained professionals.

KGOC remains diligent in the wake of victory as well as defeat.  While this is likely the last time Fine will run such bills in Tallahassee as he seeks a Congressional seat, it is imperative efforts to keep guns off Florida campuses be steady and resolute. The win in Florida is being spun as only a “setback” by some lawmakers and Second Amendment advocacy groups, already signaling for similar legislation to be reintroduced in future sessions to eliminate gun-free zones.  Until then KGOC celebrates the rays of sunshine that have melted away SB 814 – and it’s a warm feeling, indeed.