A current state Representative and Senate candidate says that recent antisemitic incidents at universities mean that it's time for students to bring their gats and pistols along with laptops and books.
"It's time for Jewish students to start carrying. Next Session, I will introduce legislation to end universities as gun-free zones and provide funding for students who want to learn how to carry safely. It is time to #StandOurGround," asserts Rep. Randy Fine.
The proposal is particularly audacious given that Florida banned gun purchases for people under the age of 21 in the wake of the mass murder by a former student at a high school in Parkland in 2018. Many college and university students are under the age of 21, raising questions as to how they might legally buy firearms. The exceptions to this rule are law enforcement and members of the military.
Fine, currently the only Jewish Republican in the House, has been outspoken about issues involving antisemitism even before the backlash against Israel's response to the Hamas attacks of October 2023.
He notably was one of the few Republicans in Tallahassee to endorse former President Donald Trump over Gov. Ron DeSantis early in the 2024 presidential race. Fine had an issue with what he called DeSantis' "quietness around the rise of Nazism" and the Governor's insistence that neo-Nazis assembling in Florida may not be "real."
Fine has also been willing to take on Democrats, including during a pitched debate last fall over a fellow legislator's resolution to urge an Israeli cease-fire in its ongoing assault on Hamas.
Sen. Rick Scott, CFO Jimmy Patronis, and Wilton Simpson, who helms Florida's Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, have endorsed Fine. What's clear is that if elected to the Senate in 2024, Fine will lead off with one of the most controversial gun bills in some time.
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