Washington, D.C. – Today, Florida’s Congressional Democrats sent a letter to the Florida State Legislature urging it to block a measure that would allow individuals with concealed carry permits to bring guns onto Florida’s college campuses.

“Florida’s colleges should be safe for our students, not remakes of the Wild West,” Frankel said. “The State Legislature should take seriously the concerns of university administrators, police, parents, and students and stop these reckless bills.”

“We agree that campus violence is a serious problem. Sadly, there have been at least 23 shootings on college campuses just in 2015,” the letter states. “Increasing the number of guns on college campuses is simply not the answer.”

The bills are H.B. 4001 and S.B. 68, Licenses to Carry Concealed Weapons or Firearms. The Florida Democratic delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives joins the State University System of Florida, campus police chiefs, several Florida sheriffs, student groups, faculty, and parents in opposing this legislation.

The letter, addressed to Hon. Andy Gardiner, President of the Florida Senate, and Hon. Steve Crisafulli, Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, is also signed by Representatives Corinne Brown, Alcee L. Hastings, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Kathy Castor, Theodore E. Deutch, Frederica S. Wilson, Patrick E. Murphy, Alan Grayson, and Gwen Graham.

The full text of the letter is available here.