The Santa Fe College Student Senate debated Wednesday evening about a resolution to endorse bills in the Florida State Senate and House to allow concealed carry on college and university campuses.
Sen. Benjamin Myers presented the resolution to a skeptical chamber during Wednesday’s Senate meeting, calling it a "solution" to gun violence in the U.S. and a way of preventing mass shootings.
"I’m trying to offer a solution," Myers, who also serves as recruitment and training director, said.
"All I’ve ever heard in the papers, including yours even reading it today, was calling us terrorists, gun-owners terrorists, and very not nice things, but those aren’t true," he said. "We have a crisis in this country, I’m trying to offer a solution that’s worked in the past."
The resolution proposed by Myers supports a state bill and house bill, SB 0068 and HB 4001, which if approved would amend the Florida statute prohibiting concealed carry on Florida college and university campuses, such as Santa Fe and UF.
The chamber voted 22 to 16 on Sen. Tony Faieta’s motion to continue discussing the resolution next week.
"I feel like everybody was just a bit uninformed," Faieta said, "myself very included."
Faieta asked Myers to present a powerpoint at the next meeting to better inform the chamber about concealed weapons and gun laws.
Faieta, who is one of several dissenting senators, said he opposes the resolution but is open to changing his mind and supporting the resolution.
Gun laws have been at the forefront of national debate following the Umpqua Community College shooting in Oregon last week that left 10 dead and nine injured.
Santa Fe Police Chief Ed Book said the college opposes any such legislation.
"We’re not telling you that (allowing concealed carry on campus) is going to keep you safe," Young Americans for Liberty Sen. Joey Bradfield, whose club sponsored the resolution, said. "It’s not a perfect solution, but it’s a solution grounded in reality."
Contact Hunter Williamson at hwilliamson@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @hunterewilliam
