Gun rights group sues Brevard County college, prompts policy change

PALM BAY, Fla. — A gun rights group is suing a Brevard County college less than a week after a student was shot in the parking lot.

The lawsuit claims students should be allowed to carry guns on campus, but college officials told Channel 9’s Mel Holt it was already changing the policy to allow that based on another lawsuit filed against the University of North Florida.

Students will be allowed to have guns on school property, as long as the weapons remain in their cars.

When an Eastern Florida State College student fired a gun he retrieved from his car on Thursday, technically he was in violation of the student code of conduct.

Now, 24-year-old Landrick Hamilton was been told he can return to class since the school is lifting its ban on firearms.

Students will be allowed to keep guns secured in their vehicles as they attend classes.

“We should be able to have self-protection if something like that occurs,” student Keanna Khan said.

Self-defense is exactly what Hamilton and two other men are claiming after the shooting on the campus.

Hamilton told police he was confronted by two brothers and that he was struck with a pool cue before firing a shot at Amado Contreras.

Contreras was hit in the chest and his brother, Landyer Contreras, was not injured.

So far, no charges have been filed but the incident did spawn the lawsuit from the gun rights group Florida Carry, Inc. Representatives with the group said they won the lawsuit against the University of North Florida in December.

The group filed suit against the school Monday, before the policy change was announced.

On their Facebook page, officials with Florida Carry said they were "seeking a permanent injunction to protect the rights of students, faculty, and the public from the college's illegal and unconstitutional regulations prohibiting firearms and weapons on all college property."

WFTV