I am going to a community college in Florida where by state law nobody is allowed to carry a firearm.

Right now I each time leave my firearm in my vehicle whenever I go to class, and that only because the parking lot is not college property.
My college has only rented the second floor of the Town center, on the first floor you got a library and on the other floors different colleges.

So you can take the stairs or the elevator and you end up where the guard sits.
So she is responsible for the security including the couple $million of equipment in our lab.
Our floor is open from 9AM to 10PM, but especially after 5PM there are always strange creatures running around but the whole town center is open access so nobody checks who is going in and out.
On Saturday's there is no guard because the college does not want to pay for it.

Why am I writing this? Well I am looking for some input.
Just a couple days ago we had a person running around on our floor telling people that they were Satan and they were sinners which needed to burn in hell. I guess that person was mentally ill and he did not cause any harm, but it took over one hour to get that person removed.

No this was no real incident but what if he would had to decided to kill/burn the sinners? You would think ohh well there is a security guard.

That security guard is most of the time a women, overweight and equipped with a tiny pepper spray bottle but she does not even always wear her 'belt'.
I don't think she ever received any real security training.

So pretty much guns are outlawed on campus grounds, of course as we all know, a criminal would never enter the facility with a firearm because he cares about the fact it is illegal...

I was thinking of writing a letter to the school board about this issue and even start wearing an empty holster to class.
One side of me says absolutely the right thing to do, on the other hand I don't know how much that could backfire at me. At the end I am training at the college for a job which only can be performed with the government so I don't really want to jeopardize that.

Do I, an Afghanistan vet, really have to rely on the 'security' provided to me by an overweight, untrained and unarmed guard?

Of course I have a CWP.

Although I agree with you and are empathetic about the whole situation, your best bet for your future is to do whatever is necessary to graduate. Sometimes we have to suck it up instead of doing what is right because of the greater picture.

It appears that you have not considered the federal Gun Free School Zone Act of 1990. As I understand it, your gun must not be within 1000 ft. of the school and you can be prosecuted for firing the gun within the school zone even if your life is threatened.

Well I found this : Concealed Carry In Florida School Parking Lots | DUI in Palm Beach County

As usually our laws are so porely written that it is debatable.

From the law

The Gun Free School Zones Act of 1990 (18 U.S.C. § 922(q)) states:
(A) It shall be unlawful for any individual knowingly to possess a firearm that has moved in or that otherwise affects interstate or foreign commerce at a place that the individual knows, or has reasonable cause to believe, is a school zone.
(B) Subparagraph (A) does not apply to the possession of a firearm—
(i) on private property not part of school grounds;
(ii) if the individual possessing the firearm is licensed to do so by the State in which the school zone is located or a political subdivision of the State, and the law of the State or political subdivision requires that, before an individual obtains such a license, the law enforcement authorities of the State or political subdivision verify that the individual is qualified under law to receive the license;

So it is legal with a CWP. Here in Florida it is legal to carry a firearm concealed in your car without a CWP as long as the firearm is kept in a manner it is not immediately accessible. That means in can be in the glove box a bag etc.

The Gun Free School Zone Act wouldn't apply in this case as it only covers elementary and secondary schools and this is a community college.

Also, it exempts those with a carry license, at least in any state where the license is issued by law enforcement (see wording posted above), so it wouldn't itself prevent carry. It's state laws against carry on college campuses that are the problem, and it's the same in Kentucky fwiw.

I agree with your concern about not being able to carry in that environment, I have no idea why a college campus is seen as a great place for a gun free zone (i.e. "Lunatic Bullseye Notice"), but you carrying an empty holster won't do anything to change the law and thus nothing to change your circumstances IMO.

If it won't change your personal level of safety I don't see much point in it.

Question: Does fla law allow each school to determine if it is gun free or not? If it does you could ask them to change their policy in light of the incident and the environment. You could also ask them to add Saturday security even though I agree it is all but useless.

Re your security, what can you carry in that situation in Florida? Pepper spray, stun gun, is there a non-firearm option that can at least help? None of those is a replacement for a good firearm IMO, but it may be the best you can do in that situation.

__________________
Chuck M

Separately re the Gun Free School Zone act there's a lot of confusion on it b/c of how it was written into 922. it's not well constructed and is basically duplicative of most state's laws.

Re the language on firing the weapon in a zone it says it is unlawful to discharge the weapon "knowingly or with reckless disregard for the safety of another", which IMO is just a back door to make it a federal crime if you fire the weapon and they care to prosecute you. They'd still need to argue you were reckless in firing it, but you're at risk of that in any state anyway. If you fire the gun recklessly you risk prosecution, then it's just how many different prosecutors get a shot at it.

If you "defend yourself" by wildly blasting away at the bad guy as he stands in front of the playground full of kids you're in big trouble with or without this law, whether the playground is at a school or a park. Know what is behind the thing you are shooting at and if you can't do that don't fire the gun.

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Chuck M

About the only thing you can defend yourself on School property for self defense is chemical spray. Such is not unlawful under Florida law. As the law stands today -- is a yes F.S. 790.01 allows carrying a "self defense chemical spray" concealed without a CWP. The statutes make no limitation on age for carrying such a spray. Only its intended use, and conformity to the size and content requirements. A "self defense Chemical spray" is defined as a "device carried solely for pusposes of lawful self defense that is compact in size, designed to be carried on or about the person, and contains not more than two ounces of chemical". FS.790.001(3)(b). The consensus of opionion--although not in any case law--is that the "two ounce" amount refrers to the repellant spray--and not the propellant charge. I would not advise against open carry of a self defense chemical spray unless fully concealed within the hand-purely as a practical matter. As Attorny Jon h. Gutmacher, criminal trial attorney in Orlando that wrote the Florida gun laws states he seriously doubts that more than a handful of school administrators and law enforcement have ever looked closely at the issue, or even thought about it--thus, there is a large margin for them making a serious mistake thinking it's against the law--when clearly--it isn't. Likewise, he would urge students not to tell their friends they are carrying a self defense chemical spray for the same reason--and also--because it would be more to their advantage to have the element of "surpirse"available if the spray is needed in any self defense situations. Florida Gun Free: School Zones Act makes it a federal crime punishable by up to five years imprisonment to knowingly possess a firearm in a "School Zone" on the grounds of any public, private, or parochial elementary or secondary school or within 1000 feet of such. It is getting rediculous here as students are being suspended or expelled for drawing a gun on paper,or some other facsimily of the object with the slightest resemblance of a gun. The NRA is recommending teachers, that have received firearms training to license them to carry on school property. Some of the states are initiating this and others are blocked by the anti-gunners. True, you can have all of the school gun zone laws prohibiting law abiding citizens that are licensed to carry but that does not prohibit the mental unbalanced individuals that know the school is zone free and they are free to disregard the law for their own benefit. Good luck on your education in Florida.

Nick

What ever you do from this point forward, please
don't publicize it. It's amazing the number of people
that you've Never met, will be aware of what you do, if
you even Mention it.
Good Luck, hope you come out with a 4.0.
TACC1

Or you could do this:

Ohio Students for Concealed Carry ? Advocating for the Right to Self-Defense on Ohio Campuses

Yep, currently rocking through with a 4.0
You know it is kinda scary, you have to ensure nobody is aware that you take your constitutional rights serious because you could get in trouble

Thank you for the link!
On one side I want to be an activist and just go for it. On the other hand I might not achieve my career goals because of it. Its a tough call.
It is strange that we are the State with over 1 million CWP but when you go to college you have to be protected by some unarmed 'security' guard