One gun free zone at a time.
Via The Gainesville Sun
Florida Carry Inc.’s lawsuit against the University of Florida and President Bernie Machen aims to do more than allow guns in campus dorms.
It blasts away at the university’s gun policies and regulations as illegally restricting the rights of students, faculty and employees to carry weapons in an attempt to further broaden the rights of people to carry guns on college and university campuses.
“There is no basis for any rule or regulation regarding firearms by UF, no matter how well-intentioned or reasonable where the Legislature has expressly pre-empted such rules and regulations,” the lawsuit says.
The nonprofit gun rights group won a 1st District Court of Appeal decision in December that state universities could not prevent people from storing guns on campus. The group threatened to sue any state university that didn’t change its rules to make it clear that students and faculty could store guns in their cars on campus.
“We are not going to stand by while universities continue to deny fundamental constitutional rights to self-defense,” said Eric Friday, attorney for the group. “We will pursue on a case-by-case basis to require colleges to come into compliance with what the 1st District ruled.”
UF took down a police department policy from its website that banned gun storage in cars on campus and added a footnote to its regulation that it would follow the decision of the appeals court.
Florida Carry said the university’s action didn’t go far enough because it didn’t inform students and faculty of their right to keep guns in cars