Two bills filed Thursday would allow people with concealed-weapons licenses to carry firearms in airport terminals.
Under current law, people with concealed-weapons licenses are barred from carrying guns in airport terminals, with exceptions for situations such as people shipping guns. The bills would lift the prohibition, though people could not have firearms in what are known as airport "sterile areas."
Passengers at the Jacksonville International Airport shared their view about these newly proposed bills on Friday.
“I think it’s fine honestly, as long as they have the permit and everything,” said Jeffrey Reyes, from Miami. “I don’t see a problem with it.”
Another traveler, Nate McDonald from Rogers, Arkansas, does not agree with Reyes.
“I think it’s a terrible idea really,” said McDonald. “I don’t think anybody should have a gun in the airport unless they’re police.”
Cord Byrd is a firearms attorney, and he says the majority of states already allow people to carry firearms in certain parts of airports.
“States currently allow permit holders to carry in the terminal or non-secure areas,” Byrd said. “There’s only six states including Florida who do not, so that would put us in line with the vast majority of other states within the United States.”
The identical bills (SB 1500 and HB 4051), filed by Sen. Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby, and Rep. Jake Raburn, R-Lithia, will be considered during the legislative session that starts Tuesday.
A statement from Simpson reads in part, "Senate Bill 1500 would allow law-abiding concealed carry permit holders to go to the airport to pick up or drop off their friends or loved ones while legally carrying their concealed weapon."
The statement went on to say, "Criminals don't care about the law and will carry a weapon when and where they choose."
Still people wouldn't be allowed to have firearms in what are called sterile areas. Those are areas controlled by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and includes parts of the airport where passengers board planes.
News4Jax Crime and Safety Analyst Gil Smith believes people traveling on planes won't be in higher danger.
“I don’t think so, because in order to get through sterile areas you have to go through metal detectors,” Smith said. “You’re screened, you’re checked. You have to go through so many checkpoints checking the body to see if you have a weapon.”
News4Jax reached out to the airport spokesperson for comment about the proposed legislation. She said it would be premature to comment about the proposal and that she will wait until any legislation is finalized, before making a comment.
The legislative session runs through March. So it will be a few months before it is known if these proposed bills will become law.
Some details of this article were provided by News Service of Florida.