Players having guns in their possession has been a much-discussed topic since a Florida player last week was found with a loaded AR-15 in his car.

Florida coach Dan Mullen offered a long-winded answer to a question about his policy for players owning guns. Mullen said he has a no-weapons policy, but also noted that players are allowed to own guns.

“I mean, we live in a country where that’s one of your rights,” Mullen said on Thursday. “A lot of people I know have guns in their house to protect their homes and their family. What we do is spend a lot of time with the no-weapons is really to educate them on weapons, on having guns, and why would you have it, what’s the purpose of having it.”

Florida receiver Kadarius Toney was found with a loaded AR-15 rifle in the back seat of his car during a traffic stop last week. Toney told officers he needed the weapon for protection, and police said the weapon is his. Gainesville police did not cite Toney because the weapon was not concealed and the incident did not violate the state’s open-carry law.

Mullen further explained his policy and approach to guns and players by saying that education is key. At Mississippi State, for example, Mullen said a lot of players had bows and spent time deer hunting.

“To me one of the biggest concerns with a lot of young people today is if you’re going to have a gun, make sure you’re properly trained in knowing how to use it,” he said. “You know, and that’s one discussion that we’ve had of potentially — I haven’t set this up, and as we’re getting things going, if you think you need to have a gun for home security, are you trained in using it. Is it a legal gun? Do you have a license? Are you qualified? And are you trained in using it so that what we’re not looking for, to me, is gun accidents or issues where a gun could maybe cause a bigger problem than if there wasn’t a weapon involved.”

Asked to clarify, Mullen said, “it’s a no-weapons policy in certain situations of how to be educated to not have it. If I wrote up the whole — when I like our kids thinking, I like them thinking in quick things, if that makes sense. No weapons, that’s easy to remember. If I write out all the different — no weapons in these situations or have a weapon for a hunting situation, if I’m doing this, I store it at this location, I keep it here, I have gun safety rules and knowledge, that’s not a quick catch to them to register in their mind. Does that make sense?”