Three controversial pro-gun bills passed key Florida Senate committees Tuesday, indicating the recent spate of mass shootings hasn't weakened the influence of the state's powerful gun lobby.
The Senate Higher Education Committee approved SB 68, a Republican-crafted measure to allow concealed weapon permit holders to carry guns on Florida's public college campuses.
The bill's supporters say it's aimed at preventing campus shootings, but Patricia Craig, whose nephew, Ryan Clark, was killed in the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre, told the committee she fears the bill could have the opposite effect.
"It's devastating," Craig said, after the party-line vote to shepherd the bill to its next committee stop. "It is not something that makes you safer. It is not something that makes you feel safer, and no family wants to get that call or that knock on the door to say your baby is no longer coming home."
However, two-time rape victim Shayna Lopez-Rivas told lawmakers she favors the 'campus carry' legislation.
"It's my right to self-defense," she said. "It's my choice. That is my choice. I'm not advocating for other people who don't want firearms that they need firearms to protect themselves, but for me, I know for a fact that if I had a gun, I would not have been raped."
Meanwhile, the Senate Criminal Justice Committee passed SB 300, which would allow concealed weapon permit holders to carry their guns in plain view in certain public places.
The Criminal Justice Committee also passed a measure to expand Florida's controversial 'Stand Your Ground' law. It would raise the threshold for prosecuting people who fire their guns in self-defense.