Florida gov inks historic gun control

FLORIDA GOV. Rick Scott signed a $400 million school-safety package into law Friday, marking the first gun-control measures passed in the state in more than 20 years.

It was greeted hours later by a federal lawsuit from the National Rifle Association.

The Florida House and Senate earlier this week voted to send the bill to the Republican governor for approval in wake of the deadly February shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

Surrounded by families of those who died in the attack, Scott said he was signing the measures into law because “this is a time for us to come together.”

The legislation raises the minimum age to buy a gun of any kind to 21, implements a three-day waiting period to purchase a firearm and bans bump stocks.

The NRA suit challenges the part of the law that raises the age to buy guns to 21. The 19-year-old Parkland shooter had bought his mass-murder weapon legally.

“This bill punishes law-abiding gun owners for the criminal acts of a deranged individual,” Chris Cox, executive director of the NRA’s legislative arm, said in a statement. “Securing our schools and protecting the constitutional rights of Americans are not mutually exclusive.”

Survivors of the Feb. 14 massacre welcomed the law with caution. “I think it’s a small step in a much bigger movement,” David Hogg, a 17-year-old senior who lost friends in the Parkland shooting, told the Daily News.