Legislature passes bill to bring guardians to college campuses

The Legislature approved a bill clearing the way for faculty and staff to carry guns and protect Florida’s public universities and state colleges under the guardians program.

The House passed HB 757 with an 88-20 vote on Thursday after the Senate adopted the bill on Wednesday, 26-10.

Republicans backing the bill have said the guardian program will beef up security and protect students following a shooting last year at Florida State University. Meanwhile, Democrats opposing the bill warned about the potential consequences of having more guns on campus in the hands of people who are not official law enforcement officials.

HB 757 is expected to be signed into law since Gov. Ron DeSantis proposed spending $6 million to expand the guardian program into higher education when he outlined his budget priorities in December. School security spending was high on his list.

The Legislature created the guardian program in K-12 public schools following the Parkland shooting.

“It’s entirely optional,” said Sen. Don Gaetz, a Crestview Republican, who sponsored the Senate version of the bill, during the Committee process. “And so if they want to join 53 School Districts who have reported no problems and are very highly satisfied with the guardian program, they can. If they don’t want to, they don’t have to.”

Under the bill, the local Sheriff’s Office would train guardians.

But Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, an Orlando Democrat, said he was philosophically against the Republicans’ strategy to increase security with the guardians program.

“I fundamentally don’t believe that adding more guns to the equation, particularly in the hands of civilians, is something that will help us,” Smith said. “I worry that bills like this are the camel’s nose underneath the tent to bring us a full campus carry.”

Currently, public universities and state colleges ban guns on campus despite Florida becoming an open carry state.

HB 757 also requires higher education schools to develop a safety plan in case there’s an active shooter, as well as a family reunification plan in case of “a natural or manmade disaster.”