State Government Steube's Guns in Schools Legislation Moves Forward as 2015 Session Approaches

BRADENTON — Local legislator Greg Steube is quickly cementing a reputation as the guns in schools guy. The Dist. 73 Florida Representative, whose district covers large parts of eastern Sarasota and Manatee Counties, has drawn national attention for his repeated efforts to allow certain teachers and administrators to arm themselves in the state's public schools. This year, Steube renews those efforts while adding a proposed bill that would allow gun owners to legally carry on college campuses.

Through HB 19, Steube has once again moved to allow guns in Florida's public schools. If passed, superintendents would be able get permission from school boards to authorize a designee to carry a concealed weapon on school campuses. This is the third time Rep. Steube has introduced legislation with that goal, beginning in 2013 in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary mass shooting. His previous efforts were supported by the NRA and other gun activists but drew broad criticism from parents, teachers and administrators.

Steube's HB 4005 would get rid of a provision in Florida's statutes that prohibits gun owners from carrying firearms onto one of its college or university campuses. The proposed bill passed a key House subcommittee last week.

Steube pointed to the recent shooting at Florida State, arguing that gun-free campuses did not prevent the spree, in which an FSU employee and two students were shot at a campus library in November.

However, Steube might find key opposition from that institution's president, former state Senator John Thrasher. A Republican, Thrasher has generally supported second amendment legislation; however, a tragic accidental shooting at FSU in 2011, which involved a family friend, inspired Thrasher to lead opposition to a similar bill pushed by gun advocates later that year.

Thrasher promoted his influence in Tallahassee while lobbying to become FSU's president, but it remains to be seen how much impact he would be able to have on such legislation from the outside of a legislature that is dominated by NRA-backed lawmakers. The state's 60-day legislative session begins March 3.