Senate Holsters University Gun Proposal

April 10, 2015

The Senate likely will not move forward with a controversial measure that would allow people with concealed-weapons licenses to carry guns on the campuses of Florida colleges and universities.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Miguel Diaz de la Portilla, R-Miami, said Thursday he doesn’t plan to have the proposal (SB 176) go before his committee, which would effectively kill the bill.

“I’ve polled the members of the Senate, and there doesn’t seem to be too much support for that bill,” said Diaz de la Portilla, whose office has been getting calls from Second Amendment advocates about the measure.

The bill, which has cleared two committees, would need to get through the Judiciary and Rules committees to reach the Senate floor. A House version (HB 4005) is ready to go to the House floor after clearing three committees.

House Speaker Steve Crisafulli, R-Merritt Island, said he was unaware of the latest development from the Senate.

“Obviously there is a lot of legislation still before us, and we’ll make those calls as they come along,” Crisafulli said.

The emotionally charged measure, backed by the National Rifle Association, has drawn opposition from the state university system’s Board of Governors, university police chiefs and the 12 public universities. Among the opponents has been Florida State University President John Thrasher, who, until November, was a powerful senator.

NRA lobbyist Marion Hammer isn’t ready to concede defeat, responding in an email that “nothing is dead until sine die.” Sine die is the expression used around the Capitol for the end of the legislative session.

“The people have a right to know where senators stand on the bill,” Hammer said in the email. “Tough votes are part of the process.”

Diaz de la Portilla’s comments Thursday came a day after Florida Carry, a Second Amendment advocacy group, asserted in a blog post that the Miami Republican intended to have the bill appear before the Judiciary Committee on Tuesday but was told to scuttle those plans by Senate President Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando.

“Clearly caving to the anti-gun Senate Democrats rather than abiding the pro-gun Republican platform,” Florida Carry declared about Gardiner.

The alert continued by saying that “ordering a committee chairperson not to calendar pro-self-defense legislation is a tactic worthy only of Democrat former U.S. Senate President Harry Reid.”

Gardiner spokeswoman Katie Betta said the Florida Carry alert, in “grossly mischaracterizing” Gardiner, incorrectly states that the president makes the final decisions on bills before committees.

“In short, President Gardiner has in no way ‘ordered the bill killed,’ ” Betta said in an email.

by Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida

Comments

3 Responses to “Senate Holsters University Gun Proposal”

  1. Ghost on April 13th, 2015 8:33 am

    This bill would also finally legalize the open carry of a handgun by permit holders.

  2. stateisevil on April 10th, 2015 4:18 pm

    For the most part, anyone can walk on and off our campuses at their leisure, no security at all. Not to mention, many people don’t take their cars to campus and our therefore disarmed while travelling to and from school.

    I assume Senator Portilla and Senator Gardiner will be providing bodyguards for every student who requests it then?

  3. Concerned Citizen on April 10th, 2015 8:25 am

    It seems that one of the two or both have decided not to bring the bill to the committee. So Senator de la Portilla has decided on his own to not bring it before the committee, thus killing the bill. Or Senator Gardiner has decided to not let the bill go to committee on his own and has thus killed the bill. So which one is it guys? Either you killed it or you didn’t.

    Concerned Citizen

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News