Florida Lawmakers Pass Gun Safety Bill Three Weeks After High School Massacre
- by Derrick Holloway
- in World
- — Mar 11, 2018
The state of Florida passed a bill yesterday that would impose new restrictions on firearm sales and allow some public staff to carry guns in school.
Family members of those killed at a Florida high school are being asked to meet Gov. Rick Scott as he considers whether he'll sign a sweeping gun and school safety bill.
Now, just a couple of hours after Governor Scott signed the bill into law, the National Rifle Association filed a suit to block it.
Supporters have defended the bill saying most school shootings are committed with handguns.
The bill is not what numerous shooting's survivors, or the school's students, wanted - they said it does not go far enough.
Counties opting out of the provision to arms teachers could redirect those funds to hire more school officers, Scott said.
"I still think law enforcement officers should be the ones who protect our schools", he said. It's not clear if anyone heeded his request, but it contradicts standard active shooter procedures in place since the 1999 mass shooting at Columbine High School, when officers remained outside while waiting for a SWAT team, which allowed the two shooters time to continue their rampage unchallenged.
Democrat member Amy Mercado said: "The thought of even one student being gunned down by the person responsible for educating and caring for them is just too much".
"The Collier County Public School District plans to review this bill carefully in the weeks ahead".
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"Rather than banning specific weapons, we need to ban specific people from having any weapon", he said.
The proposal (SB 7026) would raise the minimum age from 18 to 21 and require a three-day waiting period for people purchasing rifles and other long guns, requirements that already apply to buying handguns.
"The "March for Our Lives - Saginaw" campaign is our local branch of the national movement striving to put an end to the mass school shooting epidemic, along with support for victims of the Parkland, FL, high school massacre".
"I have not spoken to anybody in the NRA (National Rifle Association) since this happened", said Scott, who previously received an A-plus rating from the most influential anti-gun control group in the country.
"The division is now working with our administrators to develop plans that meet both the division's responsibility to provide a safe, secure learning environment for all students while recognizing the rights of students and staff as outlined in the division's Student Conduct Code and the School Board Policy Manual", said spokeswoman Katherine Goff. "Instead of looking to the root cause of this premeditated violence, the gun control provisions in this law wrongly blame millions of Floridians who safely and responsibly exercise their right to self-defense".
Many went to the Florida state capitol in Tallahassee to protest.
For some shooting survivors who demanded an assault weapons ban, the measure didn't go far enough. And 67 Republicans with A ratings from the NRA voted for the bill, according to an analysis by The Trace.
But the governor telegraphed what action he might take on the measure, which the 17 families said they support and asked him to sign. Responding to reports, he arrived outside the freshman building almost two minutes later, issuing his first radio transmission: "Be advised we have possible, could be firecrackers, I think we have shots fired, possible shots fired - 1200 building".
