The right to carry arms generally should not be infringed, except in limited places deemed sensitive. Florida defines these “places of nuisance” as airport terminals, courthouses, prisons and some government buildings. These places inevitably are protected by metal detectors and security guards due to their sensitive nature. Under these circumstances, a common citizen could be expected to accept a temporary forfeit of his rights knowing that, in return, these sanctuaries provide reasonable measures against danger.
A college campus does not fit this model. There is nothing stopping anyone from carrying any type of gun right onto its grounds. In all practical respects, it is just like any other city block in the sense that it has no metal detectors or security checkpoints to protect its inhabitants. Because it cannot install these measures, citizens shouldn’t be denied the right to protect themselves. Anyone who suggests guns
are not conducive to an academic environment fails to show how the threat of a criminal gunman is conducive to a learning environment. They fail to explain why, on the many campuses that do allow carry, there have been zero incidences. Anyone who perpetuates a fearful vision of hordes of students visibly carrying guns on their hips is ignorant to the practical purposes of the open carry provision in Florida Senate bill 234.
They don’t understand why anyone with any knowledge of firearms laughs at their Wild West fantasy scenarios.
