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In 2018, the Florida Legislature reacted to the mass shooting in Parkland by passing major safety regulations. Chances for a such a response to Thursday’s shootings at Florida State University are slim.
That doesn’t mean legislators are ignoring the politics of guns.
Start with Miami Republican state Sen. Illeana Garcia, who joined with three Senate Democrats in a committee vote last month rejecting a proposal sponsored by then-GOP Sen. Randy Fine (SB 814) to allow concealed weapons on college and university campuses.
“I have zero regret,” Garcia said on X late Thursday night about that vote, in which she joined with Democratic Sens. Jason Pizzo, Mack Bernard, and Carlos Guillermo Smith in opposing the proposal. Two other Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee were absent for the vote.
“Proud to have voted against your moronic campus carry bill, that didn’t have a house companion,” Garcia said, referring to Fine. “This decision wasn’t about partisan politics; it was rooted in common sense. The incident at FSU was tragic, but the real issue lies not with the firearm itself, but with the factors that led to it. The individual involved was the child of a deputy sheriff and had knowledge of weapon handling, yet chose to act recklessly.”
Fine noted the vote in a posting on X on Friday, where he included an excerpt of his speech in the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 25.
“There is no magic force field that keeps guns from coming onto our college campuses,” he said. “Less than one month ago, in my last bill presentation as a Florida Senator, I attempted to give adults the same right to protect themselves on campus as they have off. My four-minute closing speech is below. For the first and only time in 8.5 years in the Legislature, I failed. By a vote of 3-4, with two absent, the committee voted to keep universities ‘gun-free zones.’ An offensive name given what happened yesterday. The no vote included all three Democrats plus one so-called Republican. I am incredibly grateful to the law enforcement who ran into the gunfire yesterday to subdue the gunman. But in the time that took, this murderer was able to shoot seven people, two of whom have died. Today, I wonder if one of those seven had been able to defend themselves, the outcome would have been different. In any event, I will continue praying for all.”
Following the Parkland school shooting in February of 2018, within weeks the Florida Legislature and then-Gov. Rick Scott came together to pass the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Public High School Safety Act, a comprehensive measure that included numerous provisions regarding firearms and school safety, plus community mental health resources.
There have been attempts over the past three legislative sessions to repeal a provision of that law that bans individuals under 21 years of age from purchasing rifles and shotguns, and prohibiting licensed firearm dealers, importers, and manufacturers, from selling them to people of that age. Those measures have passed the House in 2023, 2024, and this year. In the past two years, the Senate did not pass a companion measure, and a similar measure has yet to advance in the 2025 legislative session.
–Mitch Perry, Florida Phoenix
