Gun control debate.

TALLAHASSEE — Democratic legislators continue to press for more guncontrol measures in the wake of last week’s shooting at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.

Sen. Gary Farmer, D-Fort Lauderdale, said Tuesday he plans to file a bill to require background checks for sales of firearms at gun shows.

“Last week, horror came to our state and to the Fort Lauderdale airport,” he said. “That horror came in the form of a deranged man who should’ve never been allowed to buy, own or in any way possess a dangerous firearm.”

Farmer’s bill comes on the heels of a bill filed last week by Sen. Linda Stewart, D-Orlando, that would ban the sale of certain semiautomatic rifles described as “assault weapons.”

Democrats admit the bills have little chance of passing in the Republicancontrolled Legislature but say it’s important to put forward an alternative to legislation favored by the GOP that would relax gun restrictions.

Sen. Greg Steube, R-Sarasota, is sponsoring a bill to let concealed-carry permit holders be armed on college campuses, in airport terminals and at government meetings. Those with such permits would also be allowed to carry guns openly in the state under the bill.

Groups with the Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence, a collection of organizations that formed after the Pulse nightclub massacre, were on hand to back Farmer’s bill.

Stewart said she plans to file a “no-fly, no-buy” bill that would prevent those on the FBI’s no-fly terror watch list from being able to purchase a gun in Florida.