Again this year, state Rep. Greg Steube, R, Sarasota, has proposed a bill allowing concealed-weapons permit holders to carry guns anywhere on a Florida college campus — a dangerous idea universally opposed by college administrators, students, faculty and police.

Yet, Steube has gone even further. He has another bill (HB 4031) that would let the same permit holders bring weapons to any public meeting of a county or city commission, a school board or the Legislature.

After all, at meetings where emotional outbursts and angry reactions to political decisions are common, what could go wrong?

Plenty. Which is why we hope wiser legislators prevail.

Floridians have a right to defend themselves with a gun, if necessary, but there are limits. Restrictions on guns on college campuses and at government meetings are among those limits.

The reasons that guns, except for police, are not allowed on college campuses have been made repeatedly. Campuses are open settings, often crowded, where students are free to walk, congregate or just wander.

Yet emotions and immaturity run high. Pressure over grades, relationships and numerous other potential triggers can easily cause anger and depression. Add the alcohol and drugs common on most campuses and you have a volatile mixture — which guns could make worse.

One of Steube's contentions — that an armed citizen might have stopped a gunman who, in November 2014, wounded three people on the Florida State University campus before he was killed by police — has been disputed by both FSU President John Thrasher and police. Officers arrived at the site of the shooting in less than three minutes and quickly gunned down the shooter.

Steube also stresses that, under his campus-carry bill (House Bill 4001), only people with concealed-weapons permits could carry weapons. "These are 21-year-old adults who have gone through background checks, who have gone through training," Steube has said.

Steube's idea of allowing armed citizens at public meetings is even more dangerous than campus carry. At meetings where emotions can run high, and the public is in a confined, open chamber with little room to duck or hide, the only thing worse than one crazed gunman would be multiple, even well-intentioned shooters firing wildly.

The consequences far outweigh the positives concerning guns on campus and at government meetings.

REPRINTED FROM THE NORTHWEST FLORIDA DAILY NEWS