A bill allowing professors and staff at Florida’s universities and colleges to train as “guardians” and carry guns on campus was approved by the Legislature on Thursday as an effort to increase safety.

The bill, HB 757, expands the K-12 guardian program created after the deadly shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018 that left 17 people dead.

Republican lawmakers pushed its expansion to the state’s postsecondary institutions after the shooting at Florida State University last April that left two dead.

The House approved the final bill 88-20 on Thursday, just one day after the Senate passed the measure. It will now head to Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has already signaled his support. His December budget proposal included $6 million to implement the program at the state’s 12 universities and 28 colleges.

The program would be optional for schools, and the college or university president would appoint the guardian. Guardians would need hours of firearms training before they could carry guns on their campuses.

Rep. Michelle Salzman, a Republican from Escambia County who was a graduate student at FSU at the time of the shooting, sponsored the law. She recalled receiving messages from students when the campus went on lockdown

“How many times is this going to happen before we make this a safer place?” Salzman said when the bill was up for a House vote in late February.

Opponents of the bill worry, however, that putting more guns on campuses would increase danger and cause unnecessary anxiety for students and staff.

“There’s a lot of violence going on in America right now. People are on edge. I just think that having more guns is going to make us more at risk,” said Robin Goodman, the president of FSU’s faculty union chapter.

Goodman, an English professor, said many on the Tallahassee campus remain anxious after last year’s shooting. Adding more guns would simply heighten that, she said.

“Everyone was made nervous on that day and that kind of anxiety is continuing. There’s nothing that’s put it to rest,” she said.

As with the K-12 program, college guardians would complete a 144-hour training, including 132 hours of firearm training and 12 hours of conflict deescalation tactics. They would also undergo a psychological evaluation and random drug tests.

Instead of training staff and educators, many local school districts have opted to put police officers on school grounds given they get more intensive training. But 53 counties currently have schools participating in the K-12 program.

Republican Senator Don Gaetz, the sponsor of the law’s Senate companion, said Wednesday it would be up to the individual institutions to develop their own approach to the guardian program as long as they don’t run afoul of state law. He stressed that participation is voluntary.

Gaetz, who represents northwest Florida, thanked Salzman for working with the state’s higher education institutions on the bill. “She’s done an excellent job with this legislation, and I’m proud to be her Senate sponsor,” he said.

The bill also prohibits anyone from shooting a gun within 1,000 feet of a school during operating hours or during school events. And it would require universities to promote an app for reporting suspicious activity and to adopt specified emergency response plans.

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