- March 12, 2026
Staffers at state colleges and universities can sign up to carry guns on campus under a bill that passed the Florida Senate on Wednesday.
The bill (HB 757) sponsored by Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, in the Senate and Rep. Michele Salzman, R-Pensacola, in the House, would also require public universities and colleges to adopt an “active assailant” plan to respond to mass shooters.
The move follows the deadly shooting on Florida State University on April 17, 2025, where a gunman shot and killed two people and injured five others.
At the time, Salzman was taking classes in FSU’s Applied American Politics and Policy master’s degree program.
The bill also requires institutions to train faculty to detect and respond to mental health issues, adopt a family reunification plan for active assailant plans and makes it a level six felony to discharge a weapon within 1,000 feet of a campus.
The bill passed on a 26-10 vote and now heads to the House.
