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Following Advocacy from Students Demand Action Volunteers, Florida State University Student Assembly Unanimously Passes Resolution Urging University Not to Invest in Gun Industry

4.11.2023

Last week, following tireless advocacy from Students Demand Action volunteers, the Florida State University Student Assembly unanimously passed the 75th Student Senate Resolution, discouraging the university from investing endowment funds in the gun industry. This action came just hours after thousands of students participated in walkouts across Florida and the country to demand lawmakers take lifesaving action on gun safety. Earlier in the week, Governor Ron DeSantis quietly signed permitless carry into law behind closed doors, just a week after the mass shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee that killed six people, including three children. 

Among other things, the Florida Student Senate resolution calls on Florida State University to make an official commitment to not invest endowment funds in the gun industry and urges the university to publicly acknowledge its responsibility to support gun safety measures and communities impacted by gun violence. In addition to spearheading the passage of the resolution, Students Demand Action volunteers have also been in communication with Florida State University leadership on this issue.

Gun violence is a public health crisis in the United States, and guns are the number one killer of college-aged students in this country. As the gun industry enables and profits off of the harm inflicted on our communities and our economy, gun companies have doubled down on their business practices, placing profits over human lives and refusing to take responsibility for the violence they enable. That’s why this year, Students Demand Action volunteers are asking colleges and universities to cut economic ties with the gun industry until these companies take accountability for their harmful practices. 

In January, volunteers and gun violence survivors with Students Demand Action released a comprehensive list of common sense steps the gun industry can take to reduce harm, including taking steps to keep guns out of the hands of criminals by securing their supply chains and refusing to work with bad dealers, market their products responsibly and honestly, stop making AR-15s and other assault weapons that use high-capacity magazines, and innovate to make guns safer rather than more deadly. Throughout the #KillerBusiness campaign, college students at Florida State University and around the country will be organizing on their campuses to hold their schools accountable for their investments and the economic role they play in supporting a killer industry. 

To speak with a Students Demand Action volunteer at Florida State University, do not hesitate to reach out.