Monday's attack at Ohio State University, in which 11 people were injured by a man identified as Abdul Razak Ali Artan, is renewing questions about whether students and professors should be allowed to carry concealed firearms on college campuses.
Artan reportedly plowed his car into a group of pedestrians at Ohio State around 10 a.m. Monday, then got out and started stabbing people with a butcher knife before he was shot to death by a campus police officer, according to authorities.
The faculty senate at Florida Gulf Coast University has passed resolutions opposing the idea of concealed weapons on campus in the past, when bills supporting the measure have been introduced in the Florida state legislature.
"If the legislation is introduced again, we will be positioned to probably put the same resolution together that we did several years ago," Dr. Sandra Pavelka, vice-president of FGCU's faculty senate, said Tuesday.
FGCU student Brett Shackett said he believes arming students would be too much, but would feel safer if professors could carry a weapon.
"I feel like they should, because it'll help protect students in case anything happens," Shackett said.
His friend Corbin Ferrante Gennaro agreed: "It wouldn't scare me if I walked into class and the professor said, 'hey by the way, I am armed just in case something happens,'" he said.
State Representative Dane Eagle told Fox 4 that he's optimistic that a new bill to be introduced in the next legislative session could pass. He said conferences on a bill to allow concealed permit holders to carry on Florida campuses could be held as early as January.
He said that even if it passes, students would still have to be at least 21 to apply for a concealed weapons permit.
Currently, weapons are only allowed on FGCU's campus if they are kept locked in a vehicle.
