Editor’s note: This story contains mentions of gun violence.
Yael Weinfeld was in sixth grade when a gunman killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, right across the street from her middle school.
Less than a decade later, the 20-year-old UF public relations major was once again within a mile of an automatic rifle.
Earlier this month, two men were seen walking along University Avenue beside UF campus, openly carrying rifles to raise awareness about gun rights in Florida.
Weinfeld said she couldn’t help but feel anxious when she heard the news.
“You're immediately thinking of what your next steps would be and how you could be safe and make sure that your loved ones are safe,” Weinfeld said.
After graduating middle school, Weinfeld attended Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School, and after growing up in a community heavily impacted by gun violence, she found the Sept. 9 demonstration distasteful.
“I just thought it was not appropriate, especially considering that at UF, there are so many people who are from Parkland,” she said
The men’s proximity to campus made it hard for students like Weinfeld to differentiate whether they were on campus, she said, and their location aligned with the route many students take to and from class.
She disagrees with allowing individuals to carry rifles in public, she said, and argued guns larger than pistols provide no benefit outside of hunting.
Gainesville Police Department spokesperson Art Forgey said the demonstration was completely legal. He suggested the pair had been testing the department.
“These people refer to themselves as First Amendment auditors, and they’re looking to see how law enforcement reacts,” Forgey said.
While it’s illegal to bring a gun onto UF campus, Florida law does not prohibit people from openly carrying firearms in other public places. The rules apply the same to all types of guns. If someone is of age and legally allowed to own a firearm, they don’t need a specific permit or license to openly carry.
The incident comes almost a year after Florida lifted its 38-year-old open carry ban last September, allowing law abiding citizens ages 21 and older to openly carry a firearm inside businesses; however, they can set their own policies prohibiting it.
Open carry rules further expanded following a June 17 court ruling giving 18- to 20-year olds the right to open carry in the state.
For some who’ve experienced gun violence firsthand, the expansion of these laws leaves them feeling anxious.
Fabianna Silva, a 20-year-old Florida State University international affairs junior, was in a nearby building when Phoenix Ikner, a 20-year-old FSU student, opened fire outside of the university’s student union April 17, 2025.
The shooting left two dead and six hospitalized.
Silva recalls sitting in a class in the Rovetta Business Building, a five-minute walk to the student union, when she heard a loud bang. It was so jarring her professor assured the class it was just construction, she said, before they heard screams.
Silva called the current open carry laws “insanity,” especially because they don’t limit the type of gun someone can carry. She questioned why someone would need to openly carry an assault weapon like the rifles seen alongside UF campus Sept. 9.
“To be carrying that, showing it to everybody, that’s not safety, that's something else,” Silva said.
Silva said she understands owning a gun for personal safety, but she wonders whether carrying a gun openly in public spaces does anything but intimidate others. The right to bear arms is ingrained in America’s history and Constitution, she said, but she wishes gun owners would lean toward concealing their weapons.
Since witnessing the FSU shooting last year, Silva said seeing guns is a “triggering” experience for her, no matter who is holding them.
“It’s like your body doesn’t even know the difference between ‘That’s something dangerous’ or not,” Silva said. “I see people just holding guns, and it makes me nervous.”
Silva recalled attending an event in Paris and seeing two dozen law enforcement officers carrying rifles. Despite knowing they were carrying them safely and for good reason, she said, she couldn’t help but feel anxious.
Vaneza Tamayo, a 21-year-old FSU biology senior, said she shares a similar sentiment.
Tamayo was studying in FSU’s Stozier library when the shooting happened. When she was in the bathroom, two girls bolted in to hide in a stall. Tamayo was shocked when they told her what was happening, she said.
She and the two girls waited in the stall for an hour before being evacuated, she said.
To Tamayo, it shouldn’t matter whether someone is carrying a gun on or near campus because it carries the same concern for those nearby, she said.
“If there were a school shooting again, I feel like, what’s the difference with it happening on campus than right across the street from campus?” Tamayo said.
Hearing about the incident at UF was shocking, she said, because of its proximity to campus. She described how put off she would have felt if she had seen someone carrying a firearm while she was on her way to class.
The shooting at FSU left Tamayo more wary of her surroundings and the alerts she gets to her phone, she said. When she sees notifications from police, she said, her thoughts leap to places they wouldn’t have before the shooting.
“You’re telling me I’m just walking down the street and I’m seeing somebody walking around with their gun,” Tamayo said. “I feel like in your mind, especially with what happened, I just feel like your mind’s always alert.”
She suggested creating a buffer zone around school campuses where open carry isn’t allowed. But she doesn’t know how well it could be enforced, she added.
Gainesville Mayor Harvey Ward recalled feeling just one emotion when he heard about the Sept. 9 event: “Anger, anger, absolute anger.”
Ward described an incident on East University Avenue outside of Imeca Lumber and Hardware in January when a man shot and killed someone in the store and proceeded to openly carry their firearm outside. The man later exchanged gunfire with GPD officers, injuring two.
“How do we know we, the people of our community, know the difference between that guy and those two guys?” Ward asked.
It’s hard to address community concern about the open carry of firearms, he added, because the city can’t create its own rules for wielding the weapons.
State legislation prohibits any city or county in Florida from making any firearm-related law, rule or ordinance. Firearm regulation is decided by state and federal legislation.
Ward doesn’t believe the current structure of firearm enforcement is true to the Second Amendment.
“I do not believe for a half a second that anybody who voted on on the Bill of Rights foresaw that and thought ‘Oh, we want to make darn sure that in Gainesville, Florida, in 2026, nobody can make any rules about two idiots carrying weapons of war through the streets,’” he said.
Contact Logan McBride at lmcbride@alligator.org. Follow him on X @logandmcbride.
Logan is a senior journalism student and the Alligator's Fall 2026 Enterprise Politics reporter. He previously served as a reporter on the Alligator's Metro Desk, covering K-12 Education and the City/County Commissions. In his free time, he enjoys watching sports, movies, or spending time with his cat and girlfriend.
