TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – A bill to protect Florida colleges prompted by last year’s Florida State University shooting is now law.
The law expands Florida’s school guardian program to include public colleges and universities. Teachers and staff will be able to carry weapons after training with the sheriff’s office. The law also requires annual security risk assessments at every campus to find safety flaws and make improvements.
At today’s bill signing, the governor and Florida Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas thanked lawmakers for helping make campuses safer.
“Student safety has been my number one priority as commissioner of education. It’s because of this governor’s vision, and the vision to ensure that we are making every student has access to great opportunities, but doing it in a manner that they’re not worried about some of these ancillary issues like their safety,” Kamoutsas said.
This law took effect as soon as the Governor signed it so it’s possible that teachers could complete their training this summer and carry guns during the fall semester.
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