Florida passes gun control bill
Governor mulls whether to sign mix of measures
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Three weeks after the Parkland high school shooting, Florida Gov. Rick Scott has a gun control bill on his desk that challenges the National Rifle Association but falls short of what survivors of the massacre demanded.
Now he must decide whether to sign it. Scott has not said what he will do, and he plans to take up the issue Friday with relatives of 17 people slain in the Feb. 14 attack at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
“I’m going to take the time, and I’m going to read the bill, and I’m going to talk to families,” he said.
State lawmakers formally delivered the reform package Thursday. The governor has 15 days to sign it, veto it or let it become law without his signature.
The measure would raise the minimum age to buy rifles from 18 to 21 and extend a three-day waiting period for handgun purchases to include long guns. It would also create a so-called guardian program enabling school employees and many teachers to carry handguns if they go through law enforcement training and their school districts agree to participate.
Other provisions would create new mental health programs for schools and establish an anonymous tip line where students and others could report threats to schools. The bill would also ban bump stocks that allow guns to mimic fully automatic fire and seek to improve communication between schools, law enforcement and state agencies.
In the shooting aftermath, Florida’s governor broke with the NRA. Scott had received top marks fromthelobbyinggroupinthepast for supporting gun-rights measures and his new stance reinvigorated the gun-control movement.
The governor, who is expected to seek a U.S. Senate seat later this year, has called for raising the minimum age to purchase any type of gun, but he does not support arming teachers. Instead, he wanted lawmakers to adopt his own $500 million proposal to put at least one law enforcement officer in every school.
President Donald Trump congratulated Florida on the legislation, saying state lawmakers “passed a lot of very good legislation last night.”
During a Cabinet meeting Thursday, Trump said the White House was working on a plan to ban bump stocks and that efforts to enhance background checks were “moving along well” in Congress.