Everytown, Florida Moms Demand Action Release Poll That Shows Strong Majority Of Floridians Oppose Guns On Campus And In K-12 Schools Legislation

Sixty One Percent of Floridians Oppose Forcing Colleges and Universities to Allow Concealed Weapons on Campus; Sixty One Percent of Floridians Also Oppose Allowing Guns in K-12 Schools
Florida’s Legislature has Proposed Six Gun Lobby-Backed Bills that Would Defy Position of Majority of Floridians and Entire State University System

Tallahassee, FL – Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund and Florida Moms Demand Action today released a new poll showing a strong majority of Floridians opposes the gun lobby-backed legislation in the Florida legislature that would force guns onto college campuses and allow guns into K-12 schools.

Among the poll’s findings:

• 61 percent of Floridians oppose requiring colleges and universities to allow concealed weapons on their campuses.
  
• 61 percent of Floridians oppose changing Florida law to allow guns in K-12 schools.
  
• Only eight percent of Floridians say the state’s gun laws should be weakened, compared to 48 percent who would like to see gun laws strengthened, and 39 percent who would like gun laws to remain unchanged.

“The poll shows that Floridians overwhelmingly oppose the gun lobby’s misguided push to force guns onto college campuses and allow them in K-12 schools,” said Chryl Anderson, a volunteer with the Florida Chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. “We already know campus police, college presidents, faculty, and students stand against this legislation. This is more evidence that the legislators who support these dangerous bills are out of touch with what Floridians really want.”

Moms have already spoken out against each of these bills. Two weeks ago, a coalition of moms, gun violence survivors, law enforcement, educators, and students rallied against the legislation at the State Capitol. They delivered 12,000 postcards to legislators signed by Floridians with the message “backpacks and bullets don’t mix.” And earlier this month, Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund and Florida Moms Demand Action released a TV ad highlighting NRA Leader Wayne LaPierre’s “No Guns in America’s Schools, Period” Speech at the 1999 NRA Convention.

Already this year, North Dakota and Wyoming have rejected similar legislation. Everytown for Gun Safety and the Florida Chapter of Moms Demand Action urge Florida lawmakers to follow suit.