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If I am visiting my daughter at college, is it legal to have a firearm in my car if I have a concealed carry license?
Thanks.
Thanks.
Gun in car at college
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Yes, having a gun in your car on a college/university campus is legal.
The statute TS posted is correct, and I wouldn't 'carry' on a campus, but parking lots are not considered a 'facility'.
There was a rather lengthy thread about this not too long ago. A quick search should turn it up.
The statute TS posted is correct, and I wouldn't 'carry' on a campus, but parking lots are not considered a 'facility'.
There was a rather lengthy thread about this not too long ago. A quick search should turn it up.
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A parking lot may not be a facility, but they WILL arrest you if you have a handgun on a college campus.
So my advice would be to check with the college and see if they have waived the exception for campus parking privileges.
May I ask which college campus we are discussing here?
and
A person may carry a firearm in a vehicle pursuant to s. 790.25(5); except that school districts may adopt written and published policies that waive the exception in this subparagraph for purposes of student and campus parking privileges.
So my advice would be to check with the college and see if they have waived the exception for campus parking privileges.
May I ask which college campus we are discussing here?
The man arrested at USF had the pistol openly displayed on the seat next to him, not securley encased or readily accessable as required in 790.25(5).
Also,
Universities are not school districts, so they cannot waive the exception. I read a few court cases that agree, as does Gutmacher.
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C'mon TSS, the case you cited isn't exactly representative of your typical CCWer. That guy was an idjit. :rolf
As a practical matter, if your gun isn't visible then it isn't going to be discovered...I've never been to a college campus that conducted searches of visitors' vehicles.
As a practical matter, if your gun isn't visible then it isn't going to be discovered...I've never been to a college campus that conducted searches of visitors' vehicles.
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I think you may be mistaken.
Another report of the same incident ...
Also attached is his arrest record:
and this from the University of South Florida:
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DE,
I agree he was an " idjit ", but he was still arrested for: " POSSESSOIN OF A FIREARM ON SCHOOL PROPERTY F3 "
That may be true, but if they do find it in your vehicle for some reason or another, then you will be looking at a Felony, your Florida Concealed Weapon License is revoked, and you are NOT able to own a fiream anymore.
I just don't think it is worth taking the chance.
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Was that man able to be arrested due to the fact that he was not a student there and therefore the exception that you can keep a gun securely encased in your car did not apply to him?
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What school? I don't see it anywhere. I may just have missed it.
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Exactly, PB.
A University/College is not a 'school' by definition.
Seems to me that the gendarmes arrested the man for the first thing that came to mind....wrong though it may have been. I'd love to see what charges actually stuck in that case (if any).
A University/College is NOT a 'school', by definition in FL.
A weapon in a car in a parking lot on a University/College campus is not illegal per the FL statutes.
2 out of 2 really cool attorneys agree!
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I'm gonna take a swag and say that the "homeless" guy had a PD. They aren't usually that up on some of the CCW laws. I know because I regularly talk to some of them about their cases, and give advice. With bond revoked, its plead or do state attorney time until your appeal is finished. Being in jail is a powerful motivator to take a plea and get probation. the 31 days was probably time served
The university policies are irrelevant as to criminal charges, and are illegal if applied to students for academic discipline to the extent they violate the preemption statute.
Bottom line if its in your glove box or trunk and you aren't doing anything wrong then no search, do not give consent.
The law says the prohibition on guns on school property does not apply to securely encased weapons in the car. Colleges are schools by statute. It says that school districts, may deny the right to have securely encased guns in your car. School districts are a governmental entity run by elected school board members who can be replaced by the voters. Colleges are not school districts and therefore cannot deny the effect of the statute.
Arrest and pleas are not precedent.
State v. Ragland
789 So.2d 530
Fla.App. 5 Dist.,2001.
excerpts only below
Ragland, a student at Brevard County Community College (“BCC”), was arrested after campus security allegedly discovered in his vehicle a securely encased, unloaded 30.6 Browning Bolt Action Rifle, along with a box of ammunition. The information charged Ragland with a violation of section 790.115(2)(a), Florida Statutes (1999). Section 790.115 provides in part
The order dismissing the information states that the court accepted in evidence “excerpts from the Student Handbook and from a Campus Rules Pamphlet, both published by BCC.” The order states that the defendant agreed that the documents had been duly published and circulated by BCC to its students. The trial court determined that there were no issues of material fact in dispute, and that the crux of the matter was the legal effect of the language in the publications. The court determined that the language in the documents was insufficient to “revoke and/or to put students on notice, that the general statutory right to possess a securely encased firearm in a private vehicle has been revoked, and it is therefore illegal to do so on campus.”
[1] [2] We agree with the trial court's analysis.FN1 Section 775.021(1) provides, “The provisions of this code and offenses defined by other statutes shall be strictly construed; when the language is susceptible of differing constructions, it shall be construed most favorably to the accused.” The rule of strict construction arises from the due process requirement that criminal statutes must apprise ordinary persons of common intelligence what is prohibited. State v. Cohen, 696 So.2d 435, 440 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997) (citing Perkins v. State, 576 So.2d 1310, 1312-13 (Fla.1991)). The BCC publications do not expressly waive the vehicle exception to the proscription of firearms and other weapons on campuses. Section 790.115 generally proscribes weapons on school grounds, as does the published policy. The statute excepts from its *534 proscription weapons that are in a vehicle and securely encased. The publications do not deviate from the statute in the proscriptions they make. Although the publications do not affirmatively provide for the vehicle exception, they do not give notice of an intent on the part of BCC (if there indeed was one) to swallow the exception. Instead, the publications invoke Florida law, and therefore affirmatively suggest that Florida law has not been waived. We think that the failure to state expressly that BCC waived the exception means that there was no waiver.
FN1. Because the parties here assume that section 790.115 delegates to the various school authorities the power and responsibility to render criminal that which is generally lawful, we have no occasion to decide whether that was indeed the intent of the legislature, or whether such a delegation is constitutionally permissible. Compare, B.H. v. State, 645 So.2d 987 (Fla.1994). Nor need we decide whether section 790.115 authorizes the waiver at post-secondary schools. Although the statute defines a “school” as “any preschool, elementary school, middle school, junior high school, secondary school, vocational school, or post-secondary school, whether public or nonpublic,” “school districts” are specific legal entities, and school districts do not operate community colleges. Compare § 228.041(3) (“A school district is a district created and existing pursuant to s. 4, Art. IX of the State Constitution”); Art IX, § 4, Fla. Const. (“Each county shall constitute a school district ...”); § 228.041(1)(b) (“Community colleges shall consist of all educational institutions which are operated by local community college district boards of trustees under specific authority and regulations of the State Board of Education and which offer courses and programs of general and academic education parallel to that of the first and second years of work in institutions in the State University System, of career education, and of adult continuing education”).
AFFIRMED.
The university policies are irrelevant as to criminal charges, and are illegal if applied to students for academic discipline to the extent they violate the preemption statute.
Bottom line if its in your glove box or trunk and you aren't doing anything wrong then no search, do not give consent.
The law says the prohibition on guns on school property does not apply to securely encased weapons in the car. Colleges are schools by statute. It says that school districts, may deny the right to have securely encased guns in your car. School districts are a governmental entity run by elected school board members who can be replaced by the voters. Colleges are not school districts and therefore cannot deny the effect of the statute.
Arrest and pleas are not precedent.
State v. Ragland
789 So.2d 530
Fla.App. 5 Dist.,2001.
excerpts only below
Ragland, a student at Brevard County Community College (“BCC”), was arrested after campus security allegedly discovered in his vehicle a securely encased, unloaded 30.6 Browning Bolt Action Rifle, along with a box of ammunition. The information charged Ragland with a violation of section 790.115(2)(a), Florida Statutes (1999). Section 790.115 provides in part
The order dismissing the information states that the court accepted in evidence “excerpts from the Student Handbook and from a Campus Rules Pamphlet, both published by BCC.” The order states that the defendant agreed that the documents had been duly published and circulated by BCC to its students. The trial court determined that there were no issues of material fact in dispute, and that the crux of the matter was the legal effect of the language in the publications. The court determined that the language in the documents was insufficient to “revoke and/or to put students on notice, that the general statutory right to possess a securely encased firearm in a private vehicle has been revoked, and it is therefore illegal to do so on campus.”
[1] [2] We agree with the trial court's analysis.FN1 Section 775.021(1) provides, “The provisions of this code and offenses defined by other statutes shall be strictly construed; when the language is susceptible of differing constructions, it shall be construed most favorably to the accused.” The rule of strict construction arises from the due process requirement that criminal statutes must apprise ordinary persons of common intelligence what is prohibited. State v. Cohen, 696 So.2d 435, 440 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997) (citing Perkins v. State, 576 So.2d 1310, 1312-13 (Fla.1991)). The BCC publications do not expressly waive the vehicle exception to the proscription of firearms and other weapons on campuses. Section 790.115 generally proscribes weapons on school grounds, as does the published policy. The statute excepts from its *534 proscription weapons that are in a vehicle and securely encased. The publications do not deviate from the statute in the proscriptions they make. Although the publications do not affirmatively provide for the vehicle exception, they do not give notice of an intent on the part of BCC (if there indeed was one) to swallow the exception. Instead, the publications invoke Florida law, and therefore affirmatively suggest that Florida law has not been waived. We think that the failure to state expressly that BCC waived the exception means that there was no waiver.
FN1. Because the parties here assume that section 790.115 delegates to the various school authorities the power and responsibility to render criminal that which is generally lawful, we have no occasion to decide whether that was indeed the intent of the legislature, or whether such a delegation is constitutionally permissible. Compare, B.H. v. State, 645 So.2d 987 (Fla.1994). Nor need we decide whether section 790.115 authorizes the waiver at post-secondary schools. Although the statute defines a “school” as “any preschool, elementary school, middle school, junior high school, secondary school, vocational school, or post-secondary school, whether public or nonpublic,” “school districts” are specific legal entities, and school districts do not operate community colleges. Compare § 228.041(3) (“A school district is a district created and existing pursuant to s. 4, Art. IX of the State Constitution”); Art IX, § 4, Fla. Const. (“Each county shall constitute a school district ...”); § 228.041(1)(b) (“Community colleges shall consist of all educational institutions which are operated by local community college district boards of trustees under specific authority and regulations of the State Board of Education and which offer courses and programs of general and academic education parallel to that of the first and second years of work in institutions in the State University System, of career education, and of adult continuing education”).
AFFIRMED.
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Be careful of the legal advice you give.
If the OP takes your advice, and carries onto a college campus, and is discovered and arrested and convicted for a felony, are you prepared to be responsible for your part in his loss of his Concealed Weapon License, his right to own a firearm, and a Felony on his record?
If the OP takes your advice, and carries onto a college campus, and is discovered and arrested and convicted for a felony, are you prepared to be responsible for your part in his loss of his Concealed Weapon License, his right to own a firearm, and a Felony on his record?
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This Is Not Legal Advise!!!!
YES!!! "POSSESSOIN OF A FIREARM ON SCHOOL PROPERTY ILLEGAL"
But sense you are not a Student or a Teacher, ETC. You do not give up your 4th Amendment right..
So stay out of trouble...OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF MIND!!!
Their was a real good write up about this in Conceal Carry Mag that comes out once a year.. I think it was in 2007 issue it was writin by M A cant spell today but you all know who I am talking about.
Just my 2 cents.....
YES!!! "POSSESSOIN OF A FIREARM ON SCHOOL PROPERTY ILLEGAL"
But sense you are not a Student or a Teacher, ETC. You do not give up your 4th Amendment right..
So stay out of trouble...OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF MIND!!!
Their was a real good write up about this in Conceal Carry Mag that comes out once a year.. I think it was in 2007 issue it was writin by M A cant spell today but you all know who I am talking about.
Just my 2 cents.....
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Rvrctyrngr'
I have to respectfully disagree that a college or university is not a "school" as contemplated in the applicable portions of the Florida Statute that addresses firearms in vehicles located on school property. here are the specific portions that I believe apply:
________
790.115 Possessing or discharging weapons or firearms at a school-sponsored event or on school property prohibited; penalties; exceptions.--
(2)(a) A person shall not possess any firearm, electric weapon or device, destructive device, or other weapon as defined in s. 790.001(13), including a razor blade or box cutter, except as authorized in support of school-sanctioned activities, at a school-sponsored event or on the property of any school, school bus, or school bus stop; however, a person may carry a firearm
3. In a vehicle pursuant to s. 790.25(5); except that school districts may adopt written and published policies that waive the exception in this subparagraph for purposes of student and campus parking privileges.
For the purposes of this section, "school" means any preschool, elementary school, middle school, junior high school, secondary school, career center, or postsecondary school, whether public or nonpublic.
_________
Colleges and universities are "postsecondary schools". Although you could challenge the statute and note that postsecondary schools are run by boards of directors and boards of trustees and are not "districted," I am not sure I would want to be a defendant in the test case. The law as presently structured leads to very burdensome and impractical scenarios for folks who want to have a firearm for protection in their vehicle but because of business or employment have to park on campus property when the powers to be at the university or college restrict such possession on their property. The University system in Florida is run by individual Boards of Trustees. I am familiar with UF and USF, both of which have prohibitions on maintaining firearms in vehicles on their propertes. These prohibitions are found in the Boards' enactments.
I have to respectfully disagree that a college or university is not a "school" as contemplated in the applicable portions of the Florida Statute that addresses firearms in vehicles located on school property. here are the specific portions that I believe apply:
________
790.115 Possessing or discharging weapons or firearms at a school-sponsored event or on school property prohibited; penalties; exceptions.--
(2)(a) A person shall not possess any firearm, electric weapon or device, destructive device, or other weapon as defined in s. 790.001(13), including a razor blade or box cutter, except as authorized in support of school-sanctioned activities, at a school-sponsored event or on the property of any school, school bus, or school bus stop; however, a person may carry a firearm
3. In a vehicle pursuant to s. 790.25(5); except that school districts may adopt written and published policies that waive the exception in this subparagraph for purposes of student and campus parking privileges.
For the purposes of this section, "school" means any preschool, elementary school, middle school, junior high school, secondary school, career center, or postsecondary school, whether public or nonpublic.
_________
Colleges and universities are "postsecondary schools". Although you could challenge the statute and note that postsecondary schools are run by boards of directors and boards of trustees and are not "districted," I am not sure I would want to be a defendant in the test case. The law as presently structured leads to very burdensome and impractical scenarios for folks who want to have a firearm for protection in their vehicle but because of business or employment have to park on campus property when the powers to be at the university or college restrict such possession on their property. The University system in Florida is run by individual Boards of Trustees. I am familiar with UF and USF, both of which have prohibitions on maintaining firearms in vehicles on their propertes. These prohibitions are found in the Boards' enactments.
This discussion is very informative especially this time of year when college graduations are taking place all over the state. Currently I'm reading this from a hotel room in a particular city in Florida and preparing to lock the G19 and 26 in the hotel safe while I go to the graduation ceremony on campus tomorrow. I've considered securely encased in the parking lot but just don't have the time and money to become a test case. Somewhere somehow this particular issue has to be challenged and cleared up. To have to travel six hours away from home and be a potential sitting duck for some deranged gunman at a school function is not a pleasant thought. I'll just have to use my other survival skills if needed while going to and from the ceremony.
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