TALLAHASSEE

Floridians with concealed-weapons licenses would be able to carry guns on the campuses of state colleges and universities under a bill advanced by a House panel on Tuesday.

The 8-4 vote by the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee comes just months after a campus shooting a few blocks away from the state Capitol, at Florida State University, that left three people wounded. The gunman, a former FSU student, was killed by police in the November incident.

Rep. Greg Steube, R-Sarasota, said his measure (HB 4005) was not filed in response to the FSU shooting, but would give students and others more protection by allowing the concealed weapons owners to carry their firearms on a campus.

“We have an inherent right as Americans and as Floridians to defend ourselves,” said Steube, who has a concealed-weapons license. “This is simply giving those individuals that inherent right to self-defense, to carry on college and university grounds.”

Steube said the guns on campuses would be restricted to the concealed-weapons license holders, who must be at least 21 and have passed “a litany of background and training” requirements, including a criminal background check, fingerprinting and a course in the use of firearms.

He said based on data from the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, which oversees the 1.3 million concealed-weapons licenses, only 2,271 21-year-olds hold those licenses.

Steube said even assuming all those 21-year-olds are among the 1.2 million students on state college and university campuses, it would only represent a small number of guns — although older students and non-students who were licensed could also carry the weapons on the campuses.

The bill drew opposition from university and faculty organizations, including the Florida Student Association, United Faculty of Florida and individual students and professors.

Marjorie Sanfilippo, a psychology professor and associate dean at Eckerd College, said college officials often have “difficult conversations” with students over issues like disciplinary actions. “Many of these students are angry,” she said. “Allowing these upset students to carry concealed weapons would without doubt increase the risk of violence toward me and my colleagues whose job involves the setting of limits.”

Although the bill would not apply to private campuses such as Eckerd, Sanfilippo said public college administrators and professors need the same protection that lawmakers have in their committee meetings where concealed weapons are banned.

She also warned against allowing students and others to carry guns on campuses where alcohol and drug use can be heavy. “The last thing you need to do is add guns to the mix,” she said.

Some faculty members and students spoke in favor of Steube’s bill.

Gary Kleck, an FSU criminology professor, said the state data on the owners of concealed weapons shows they are a largely law-abiding group, with less than a tenth of 1 percent associated with a violent crime.

Kleck also said research shows that using guns for self-protection is an effective deterrent.

“It’s overwhelmingly effective in reducing the likelihood that the victim will be either injured or lose property,” he said.

The House subcommittee split along party lines on the bill, with the Republicans in support and Democrats in opposition.

“I think that our campuses are not the epicenter of violence,” said Rep. Dave Kerner, D-Lake Worth, a former police officer who voted against the measure. “I fear that introducing thousands of guns potentially into that academic environment that is our university system would make it that epicenter of violence.”

Rep. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, who helped write Florida’s 2005 “Stand Your Ground” self-defense law, supported Steube’s bill and said it would continue to put Florida at the forefront of gun ownership rights.

“We are not the wild west. We are not an outlier. We are a leader,” Baxley said. “Facts are stubborn things. Violent crime has continued to go down since 2005.”

“I believe if you empower people to stop violence they can and they will and the numbers tell me they did,” he added.

Rep. Ray Pilon, R-Sarasota, a member of the House subcommittee, also voted for the bill.

If the bill becomes a law, Florida would join seven other states that allow concealed weapons on college campuses — Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Mississippi, Oregon, Utah and Wisconsin, according to a staff analysis.

Steube’s bill has two more committee stops before it can reach the House floor. A similar bill (SB 176) is pending in the Senate but has yet to be heard in a committee.

Steube has another measure (HB 19) that would let designated school officials carry a concealed weapon in kindergartens through high schools subject to approval by the local school superintendent and local school boards.

Although his public school bill provides essentially a local option on the concealed weapons issue, Steube said he would oppose giving state colleges and universities that option in HB 4005.