COMMENTARY

Florida prohibits the carrying of firearms on college campuses, including guns carried by citizens who hold concealed-carry weapons permits. Some state lawmakers hope to change that.

Rep. Scott Plakon, a Longwood Republican, has filed House Bill 6005, which would allow concealed-weapons permit holders to carry guns on college campuses.

The Florida House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved legislation similar to Plakon’s in 2016, but the companion bill never came to a vote by the Florida Senate. Sen. Miguel Diaz de la Portilla, a Miami Republican who was chairman of the Judiciary Committee, refused to allow his panel to vote on what is known as “campus carry.”

Diaz de la Portilla was defeated in his bid for re-election.

Florida is one of only four states in the country that completely ban openly carrying firearms. And the state's law regulating concealedcarry permits includes many areas in which even concealed weapons are not permitted. They include college campuses, airport terminals, police stations, courtrooms and legislative and other government meetings.

This year’s session of the Legislature begins in March, but scrutiny of campus carry intensifies daily.

Will guns on college campuses make Florida safer?

For answers, today’s Front Burner enlists Plakon to articulate why he introduced his legislation, and Dave Kerner, a former member of the Judiciary Committee in the Florida House, to explain his consistent opposition to campus carry.