TALLAHASSEE — As expected, the Florida House passed two bills Wednesday that would allow 1.4 million Floridians with concealed-weapons licenses to carry handguns openly and on a college or university campus.

An open-carry bill, sponsored by Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach, passed the House 80-38. Included is a significant last-minute revision approved Tuesday night that allows licensed lawmakers the ability to carry concealed weapons in legislative meetings.

Gaetz’s bill would let permit-holders openly display handguns contained in a holster or bag, though private hospitals and employers would retain the right to prohibit weapons in the workplace and other locations, such as jails, courthouses, bars and police stations, would be exceptions to the rule.

After a separate House vote, college campuses would no longer be a place where citizens cannot carry. House lawmakers cleared the way for those with concealed weapons licenses to carry handguns on university campuses with a vote of 80-37. (Two representatives later changed their votes to “no” after voting erroneously.)

“I think it’s important that concealed permit holders have the ability to defend themselves and I don’t think that right and that ability for self-defense should be stripped because they walk across a college campus,” said co-sponsor Rep. Greg Steube, R-Sarasota, before the House passed his campus-carry bill Wednesday night. Several Democrats spoke out against the bill, saying the plan is not supported by many university presidents, would endanger students, professors and other staff members and could exacerbate racial profiling.

While legislation expanding guns rights this session has showcased some lawmakers’ commitment to preserving the Second Amendment as the nation debates how best to reduce mass shootings and gun violence, the open-carry bill is unlikely to ultimately be approved by the Senate in its current form. For the second year in a row, Senate Judiciary Chairman Miguel Diaz de la Portilla, R-Miami, has said he will not hear a campus-carry bill at all.

“I don’t know that any bills are in trouble quite yet in the fourth week of the legislative session,” Gaetz told the Herald-Tribune. “I’m hopeful that we will at least get an up-or-down vote on the open-carry legislation.”

Steube said Wednesday he was frustrated his bill would not get a chance.

“My request would be ‘Don’t let one person stymie a big piece of policy that clearly the majority of the House of Representatives supports, that I assume a majority of the Senate supports,” Steube said, referring to Diaz de la Portilla’s decision. “But you’re refusing to have a hearing on it because you are afraid that it’s going to move forward.”

The Senate’s version of the open-carry bill was last read by the Criminal Justice Committee on Jan. 12. That bill is not currently scheduled to be addressed when the Judiciary Committee meets on Feb. 8.

Senate President Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, addressed the open-carry bill after a rally Wednesday morning celebrating Gov. Rick Scott’s tax cut plan, saying he supported extending carrying privileges to lawmakers in legislative session but didn’t necessarily think the bill would fare well in the Senate. He told the News Service of Florida that he did not plan on “withdrawing” it from committee consideration to force the issue on the Senate floor.

“To me if you are taking away an exemption, especially for someone else, you should live by that same standard and so it should be all across the board,” Gardiner said. “But I don’t know if we’ll be able to get that bill to be able to make that point.”