Today, the Senate Higher Education Committee heard
testimony regarding SB 176, the guns on campus bill that would repeal the
prohibition on concealed firearms on campus. Despite the appearance of campus police
chiefs, I’d say three times as many opponents than proponents, representatives
from student, faculty, and administration, concerned citizens, and so on, the
bill still passed along party lines. The
proponents? The gun lobby and a few students from Students for Concealed Carry
at FSU. There were a couple more pro-gun speakers, but because the committee
ran out of time (because they drilled opponents of the bill but not the
proponents), I didn't catch their affiliation. And because it was obvious that
the vote would be another party line vote, the chair of the committee allowed
one proponent and then one opponent to speak, creating a false sense of
objectivity on a bill that had many many more opponents than the other side.
It was obvious that many of the Republicans on the committee
had already had their minds made up based on the aggressive way they
questioned the first speaker, a student who represents FSU’s SGA. The student was absolutely fabulous—articulate, calm, poised, and intelligent—despite the
pointed, pro-gun and often inappropriate questions asked of him (he came to
represent the SGA, who voted unanimously to oppose the guns on campus bill, not
as an expert on statistics or gun evidence). I can almost see treating someone paid to do this for a living this way,
but definitely not a student who is trying to tell these folks who WE ELECT
what students think about the bill because students do not feel that their
voices are being heard.
Of course, the NRA lobbyist received no questions—and
she didn't wait to see if there were any questions because she knows whose
bread the gun lobby butters.
One senator repeatedly said that if he had evidence,
he’d vote the other way, but when it was given to him, he acted as though the
speaker was speaking in tongues. Look,
it wouldn't matter if we walked in with a U-Haul full of evidence; those who
voted for the bill were not going to be convinced otherwise. And here’s the rub: PROPONENTS SHOULD HAVE THE
BURDEN OF PROOF, NOT THE OPPONENTS WHO WANT THE STATUS QUO! Yes, I’m yelling. It’s
infuriating. But seriously, those who want to change the status quo should be
providing the evidence to explain why the law should be repealed. Why are we on
the defensive all of the time against moneyed interests? Why do the experts
have to bring irrefutable evidence but the gun lobby doesn't?
I can’t tell you how impressive it was to see the university police chiefs and several officers sitting in the front row, and
every single one of them opposed guns on campus. They are the experts here.
Pediatricians spoke against the bill. They are the experts here. One student
spoke, but no faculty, no staff, no one from administration were able to speak
because they ran out of time. They told
us we had an opportunity to speak at the next committee stop. But then, we were
admonished for not providing evidence despite the fact that at least a dozen or
more people were ready to speak and would likely provide that information.
I ask you—why not eliminate the prohibition on guns
in rooms where the Legislature meets? If you are going to force this on
universities and colleges that do not want it, why not pass the legislation
regarding their own house before imposing it on ours? Serve as a role model for
others? It’s so incredibly hypocritical.
Well, we don’t have long to wait to speak again. The
House Higher Education and Workforce Subcommittee will hear the bill this
Wednesday at 9:00 am in Reed Hall (102 HOB).
The list of committee members can be found here.
I really think we need to pack the room. And call their offices. And drop by their offices if you can. These are our representatives. They need to hear from us.
Since the ranking Democrat on the committee—Rep.
Rehwinkel Vasilinda—is the representative for many of us in Tallahassee, be
sure to let her know what you think as well: (850) 717-5009. Her voting record on guns can be found here.
