Angela Williams, founder of Mothers Against Murderers, speaks as Rep. Lois Frankel, D-West Palm Beach, listens at a news conference today.

State lawmakers will “turn Florida into the Wild West” if they pass bills to let people with concealed weapons permits carry their guns in the open and bring them onto college campuses, U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel, D-West Palm Beach, said today.

Frankel and U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton, joined state Sen. Jeff Clemens, D-Atlantis, and state Rep.Lori Berman, D-Lantana, at Palm Beach State College to criticize the gun bills moving through the Republican-controlled legislature.

From left: U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch, state Rep. Lori Berman, state Sen. Jeff Clemens and U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel at Palm Beach State College.

The Democratic lawmakers were joined by a group of women who held up pictures of family members who were killed in gun violence.

“There is a lot of crazy stuff going on up there in Tallahassee…This Legislature is about to turn Florida into the Wild West,” Frankel said.

The open-carry legislation (HB 163) was approved by a Criminal Justice subcommittee last week on an 8-4 vote. It joins a bill to lift bans on guns on college campuses (HB 4001)  as the highest priorities for the state’s influential gun lobby when the Legislature convenes in January.

Florida has 1.4 million people with concealed weapons permits — more than any other state. But it is among only five states which currently ban open carry.

The sponsor of the open carry legislation, Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach, described his measure as a “public safety bill.” Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey spoke in favor of it last week in Tallahassee, saying it “takes a community to protect a community.”

But Angela Williams of Riviera Beach disagreed at today’s news conference.

“There’s too many guns on the street and there’s too many mothers hurting,” said Williams, who with her sister started the group Mothers Against Murderers after Williams’ nephew was shot and killed in 2003. She said her group has 297 members.