ESTERO, Fl. - A Battle to bare arms.  FGCU students showed support for a new club aiming to allow concealed weapons on campus.

it's a local chapter of a national organization, 'Students for concealed carry.'

 Right now, it is illegal in the state of Florida to carry a weapon on campus.  But through education and petitions, the FGCU chapter of 'Students for Concealed Carry' are hoping to change that.

"I'm a 150 miles away from my home and my parents and any protection from them and it'd be nice to know that I can have protection for myself," says Michael Nicola.

Freshman Nicola is one of several FGCU students pushing to get laws changed that would allow him to carry a concealed weapon on campus, a place group president and gun owner Tim Cannedy says is not a guaranteed safe haven citing the campus safety report.

"There are no metal detectors, no ID checkpoints, so this is completely open to anybody.  Think about an airport but with no security," says Tim Cannedy.

It's why he started this local group, brought on by the Virginia Tech shootings.  Cannedy says that tragedy and recent ones like the Colorado theatre massacre this summer, make bringing the second amendment right on campus vital.

"What danger is there on this campus that you're gonna need self defense?" asks sophomore, Amanda Frantz.

But the group's ultimate goal is leaving other students questioning if a change in laws would do more harm than good.

"We already upd then we already have the regular police department, seeing as how they react to normal situations and the manner they do so it seems like they do their job effectively," says sophomore, Elhapo Mtumdu.