Some won’t back gun, school reforms

TALLAHASSEE — The Legislature’s response to the shooting at a Parkland high school is splitting both major political parties, making it harder for the GOP leadership to find the votes needed to pass the measure in the session’s final week.

Black lawmakers, who make up 20 of the 41 Democrats in the House and seven of the 15 Democrats in the Senate, say they’ll vote against the gun- and school-safety package because it includes a “marshal” program to train and arm teachers.

“That marshal program means something completely different in my community than it does in Parkland,” said Rep. Bobby DuBose, D-Fort Lauderdale. “We have a very different history when it comes to guns and police where we’re treated differently because of the color of our skin.”

But the “marshal” program is key to getting Republican support for a bill that includes some of the gun control measures Democrats have advocated for years. The bill bans “bump stocks” used to modify semi-automatic weapons to fire more rapidly, increases the minimum age for buying rifles from 18 to 21 and imposes a three-day waiting period for gun purchases.

“This is a compromise bill that has been put together, but the politics around it are toxic,” said Rep. Jose Oliva, R-Miami, sponsor of the House version of the measure.

Parents and students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where a gunman killed 17 people Feb. 14, have rallied for more aggressive gun control measures, such as a ban on assault-style weapons and a cap on magazine sizes. Republicans, though, have voted down Democratic amendments to add the weapons ban.

Republicans also are facing pressure from Second Amendment rights groups such as the National Rifle Association, which is urging its members to flood lawmakers’ inboxes urging them to strip the gun control measures.

“Take the marshal plan out, and the votes don’t exist to pass gun control,” said Rep. Jared Moskowitz, DCoral Springs, an alumnus of Stoneman Douglas.

Many GOP lawmakers gearing up for tough Republican primaries have come out against the bill.

Rep. Jay Fant of Jacksonville is one of four Republicans running for attorney general. He has filed an amendment to remove the gun control provisions. Blaise Ingoglia, the Republican Party of Florida chairman and a state representative from Spring Hill, voted against the bill in committee.

Watching the legislative process unfold, Gov. Rick Scott met with key lawmakers Thursday to encourage them to take action.

Scott, expected to run for the U.S. Senate against incumbent Democrat Bill Nelson, wants more funding for school safety and mental health programs but didn’t include the “marshal” program in his plan.

“I want to make sure we have a significant law enforcement presence in every school,” he said. “I want to make sure we harden our schools, but I don’t support arming teachers.”

Scott also brought Ryan Petty, father of Alaina Petty, 14, one of the victims of the shooting, to speak from the floor of each chamber in support of his plan.

“I’m here to ask each of you to set politics aside at this moment and come together to keep guns out of the hands of those that shouldn’t have them,” Petty said. “Let’s make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

But as the legislative session careens toward its scheduled March 9 close, Republicans and Democrats more accustomed to infighting than bipartisanship are still mistrustful of each other.

DuBose was upset when House Republican leaders amended the bill to require sheriffs’ departments to offer the “marshal” training program. The school districts still must opt in, but county sheriffs must make the program available. He and Moskowitz say that amendment came after House leaders met with Parkland parents and students and promised them the marshal program wouldn’t change.

Even though the program is still optional for school districts, DuBose isn’t confident it will stay that way.

“I’ve been here long enough,” he said. “It’s mandating the sheriffs this year, and then next year one of my colleagues is going to introduce a bill to mandate that the superintendent do it.”

Oliva said the amendment wasn’t a big change and that he’s trying to accommodate Democrats as well as Republicans.

“This has all happened in the most hurried of fashions,” he said. “We’re trying to bring everything together. One thing that cannot be said by anybody on the other side is that they have not been involved in this. Proof of that is that some members on our side don’t like it.”