Florida Gov. Rick Scott, lawmakers propose sweeping gun reforms
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Gov. Rick Scott and state lawmakers proposed on Friday the most sweeping array of gun reform measures seen in the state in decades.
Scott called for a minimum age of 21 to buy any firearm, the banning of “bump stocks” that can make a semiautomatic weapon fire faster and asked for $500 million in funding for mental health initiatives and school safety.
“I want to make it virtually impossible for anyone who has mental issues to use a gun,” Scott said. “I want to make it virtually impossible for anyone who is a danger to themselves or others to use a gun.”
The moves comes days after students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in Parkland stormed the capital demanding new gun control laws in the wake of the Feb. 14 massacre that left 17 students and faculty dead at their school.
Among other reforms, the students want a ban on the sale of semi-automatic rifles and a limit on magazine capacity. Scott did not include those in his package.
The minimum-age limit, which already exists for handguns, would have prevented suspect Nikolas Cruz, 19, from lawfully purchasing the AR-15 rifle police say he used in the shooting.
Scott’s plan creates a “violent threat restraining order” allowing a court to prevent a violent person from having a gun when family member of law enforcement officers present evidence of a threat.
House and Senate GOP leaders on Friday also released a measure similar to Scott’s, including a three-day waiting period for all gun purchases and increased funding for mental health counseling in schools.
The legislative plan also sets up a “marshal” program that would allow school employees trained and screened by law enforcement to carry guns on school grounds.
Under current law, a person deemed “mentally defective” by a court or committed to a mental institution is banned from buying a firearm; the plan from lawmakers would go further, prohibiting possession of any firearm.
At least one of Scott’s proposals breaks with the National Rifle Association, which does not support the change in the age limit.
Scott also said he did not back arming teachers, an idea being pushed by President Donald Trump. But he is calling for a law enforcement officer in every school by the time the 2018 school year begins.