Florida State University

Last week, I watched the heartbreaking news out of Florida State University – another campus turned into a crime scene, another community shattered by gun violence. As someone who lost her husband in a school shooting, I can tell you: these moments are never just headlines, they are wounds that never fully heal. Chris Hixon, my husband, was murdered on February 14, 2018, during the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre. He was an athletic director, a Navy veteran and, above all, a protector. When the shooting began, he did not hesitate. He ran toward the danger to save students. He was shot and killed while doing everything right. Chris was trained to use a weapon. He served our country with honor.

Last week, I walked across Florida State University’s campus in Tallahassee, watching students laugh, read and relax in the sun. Today, that same lawn is a crime scene – the latest gun-free zone targeted by a coward intent on terrorizing innocent lives. The son of a sheriff's deputy shot two dead and injured six others in a campus rampage. Last year, Governor Ron DeSantis appointed me to the Florida Board of Education, where I serve the 3 million students who attend our K-12 schools and state colleges. It’s time to get real: gun-free zones do not protect our students – they turn them into defenseless, easy targets. At FSU, the shooter used his mother’s legally-owned service weapon. No law could have stopped him.