It’s been a little over 2 months since a shooting at Florida State University resulted in 3 people being shot and the death of the gunman. Believed to be a possible attempt at “suicide by police”, the gunman had history of violence but had legally acquired a gun that a family friend taught him how to shoot. The police stopped the shooting within minutes of it happening. This event was a tipping point for Florida legislature, who decided to pass a law that would allow guns on campus for people with concealed carry.
Wait…..what?
Proponents of the law (Republicans and members of the NRA) claim that it would make campuses safer, and it would “stop empowering violence”. However, FSU is one of many incidents in the state of Florida recently involving gun violence, and the second on a college campus. This law is being drafted one year after an ex-cop with legal concealed carry shot somebody at a movie theater in Wesley Chapel, Florida. The man, who had a mental illness but no legal history of violence, shot two people due to anger over the victim texting his babysitter to make sure his kids were alright. Death via text. So the logical thing would be to show how concealed carry is flawed, right? Nope. That next week Pasco County sheriff Chris Nocco defended the practices that lead to the victim’s death, claiming that it was violence, not the gun, that killed the man in Wesley Chapel, saying that mental health was the bigger issue. However what’s being ignored is the fact that a man with a mental illness had concealed carry. Everybody, whether you’re pro-concealed carry or not, can agree that it is a problem that it is difficult for the mentally ill to get help. However, a logical thing to do would be to make sure that the mentally ill cannot get concealed carry and make it easier for them to get help, BEFORE you allow them onto a campus with thousands of students.
For the students of the University of Central Florida, this law hits close to home. Two years ago, a man living on campus had collected guns, bombs and ammunition, with a goal of “giving them Hell”. This university, which currently has 60,000 students and is the second largest in the country, only managed to escape the massacre due to a 911 call from a scared roommate. For students, this law would have never helped stop the massacre if it had happened as planned. One man or woman with concealed carry would never have been able to have stopped a man with 700 dollars worth of ammunition.
The scariest part of all this? This man would have been able to legally get concealed carry in the state of Florida. The eligibility requirements are that an applicant be (source):
-Over the age of 21
-Competent with a firearm (which requires simple courses, which are cheap and would last only 1-2 hours)
-Have no legal history with violence
There are no requirements on Florida’s website that the person have no history of mental illness, just that the person is not convicted of any violent acts. The man who nearly killed students at the University of Central Florida could legally get concealed carry. As the Wesley Chapel shooter did. As many students can on campus who may not be competent enough to carry one, or just needs one incident to snap them into shooting a fellow student. A common myth used by pro-gun advocates is that having concealed carry will protect rape victims, as they can shoot somebody before they’re raped. This ignores huge parts of why sexual assault happens, including the fact that most sexual assaults happen by someone the victim personally knows. It’s a new type of victim-blaming, saying that if a woman has a gun then they should be able to stop their rape.
Schools aren’t targeted because they’re “gun free zones”. They’re the sites of many shootings because they’re highly populated areas, and because mass shooters almost always target a place they are personally connected with. Legally allowing more people to target people they personally know or are angry with will not help the problem. In Canada, where gun laws are stricter and you need background checks to have a gun, the rate of gun violence is far less per capita than the United States, even being the lowest in over a decade. Gun control works, and bringing guns onto campus does not protect people. It only puts them more at risk.
Politics with Ashley 
*applause* 👏👏👏