The amendment was designed in part to increase support from many parents, law enforcement and legislators in both parties who object to arming teachers.
3PARKLAND, Fla., March 5 (Reuters) – Florida’s Republican-controlled Senate voted on Monday to generally exclude classroom teachers from a plan to allow school staff to carry firearms as part of a package of measures in response to a school shooting that took 17 lives last month.
The amendment was designed in part to increase support from many parents, law enforcement officials and legislators in both parties who object to arming teachers, as well as from Governor Rick Scott, a Republican also on record as opposed to the idea.
The exclusion was adopted by voice vote as part of a package of legislation the Senate passed a short time later, 20-18, to raise the minimum legal age for buying all guns in Florida to 21 and impose a three-day waiting period for any gun purchase.
The minimum age for handguns nationally is already 21. But a person can be as young as 18 to buy a rifle in Florida, with no waiting period.
Authorities say the man charged with killing 14 students and three adult educators at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School last month in Parkland, Florida, was 18 when he legally purchased the semiautomatic AR-15-style assault rifle used in the massacre.
The Senate-passed bill represents a break with the National Rifle Association gun rights lobby, which has resisted proposals to raise age limits or impose new waiting limits.
The bill now moves to Florida’s Republican-controlled House of Representatives.
A House committee last week approved similar legislation, including a provision allowing local sheriffs to create voluntary programs for deputizing school personnel as armed “marshals,” subject to school district approval and special training. U. S. President Donald Trump has voiced support for such a plan, also advocated by the NRA.
As amended in the Senate bill, classroom teachers would be excluded from carrying guns to work unless they are part of the Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program, or are members of the U. S. military or former police officers. Other school personnel would be eligible to participate.
A spokeswoman for the governor said Scott, who was endorsed by the NRA and received its highest rating for supporting gun rights, would review the bill in its final form before deciding whether to support or oppose it.
“The governor is against arming teachers,” the spokeswoman, Lauren Schenone, told Reuters, adding that Scott “still has concerns” with the three-day waiting period, which he has opposed in the past.
The Florida Senate over the weekend rejected an amendment to ban assault weapons.
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Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students return to school
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Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students return to school
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School staff, teachers and students return to school greeted by police and well wishers in Parkland, Florida on February 28,2018.
Students grieving for slain classmates prepared for an emotional return Wednesday to their Florida high school, where a mass shooting shocked the nation and led teen survivors to spur a growing movement to tighten America’s gun laws. The community of Parkland, Florida, where residents were plunged into tragedy two weeks ago, steeled itself for the resumption of classes at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where nearby flower-draped memorials and 17 white crosses pay tribute to the 14 students and three staff members who were murdered by a former student.
/ AFP PHOTO / RHONA WISE (Photo credit should read RHONA WISE/AFP/Getty Images)
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School staff, teachers and students return to school greeted by police and well wishers in Parkland, Florida on February 28,2018.
Students grieving for slain classmates prepared for an emotional return Wednesday to their Florida high school, where a mass shooting shocked the nation and led teen survivors to spur a growing movement to tighten America’s gun laws. The community of Parkland, Florida, where residents were plunged into tragedy two weeks ago, steeled itself for the resumption of classes at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where nearby flower-draped memorials and 17 white crosses pay tribute to the 14 students and three staff members who were murdered by a former student.
/ AFP PHOTO / RHONA WISE (Photo credit should read RHONA WISE/AFP/Getty Images)
PARKLAND, FL – FEBRUARY 28: A student is hugged as she arrives for classes at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School for the first time since the shooting that killed 17 people on February 14 at the school on February 28,2018 in Parkland, Florida. Police arrested 19-year-old former student Nikolas Cruz for the 17 murders. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
PARKLAND, FL – FEBRUARY 28: A student holds a flower and a button that reads,’ #MSDSTRONG,’ as she arrives for classes at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School for the first time since the shooting that killed 17 people on February 14 at the school on February 28,2018 in Parkland, Florida. Police arrested 19-year-old former student Nikolas Cruz for the 17 murders. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
PARKLAND, FL – FEBRUARY 28: Police officers stand in front of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School as student arrive to attend classes for the first time since the shooting that killed 17 people on February 14 at the school on February 28,2018 in Parkland, Florida. Police arrested 19-year-old former student Nikolas Cruz for the 17 murders. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
PARKLAND, FL – FEBRUARY 28: Diane Shaw, a crossing guard stops traffic for students as they cross to attend classes at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School for the first time since the shooting that killed 17 people on February 14 at the school on February 28,2018 in Parkland, Florida. Police arrested 19-year-old former student Nikolas Cruz for the 17 murders. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School staff, teachers and students return to school greeted by police and well wishers in Parkland, Florida on February 28,2018.
Students grieving for slain classmates prepared for an emotional return Wednesday to their Florida high school, where a mass shooting shocked the nation and led teen survivors to spur a growing movement to tighten America’s gun laws. The community of Parkland, Florida, where residents were plunged into tragedy two weeks ago, steeled itself for the resumption of classes at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where nearby flower-draped memorials and 17 white crosses pay tribute to the 14 students and three staff members who were murdered by a former student.
/ AFP PHOTO / RHONA WISE (Photo credit should read RHONA WISE/AFP/Getty Images)
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School staff, teachers and students return to school greeted by police and well wishers in Parkland, Florida on February 28,2018.
Students grieving for slain classmates prepared for an emotional return Wednesday to their Florida high school, where a mass shooting shocked the nation and led teen survivors to spur a growing movement to tighten America’s gun laws. The community of Parkland, Florida, where residents were plunged into tragedy two weeks ago, steeled itself for the resumption of classes at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where nearby flower-draped memorials and 17 white crosses pay tribute to the 14 students and three staff members who were murdered by a former student.
/ AFP PHOTO / RHONA WISE (Photo credit should read RHONA WISE/AFP/Getty Images)
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School staff, teachers and students return to school greeted by police and well wishers in Parkland, Florida on February 28,2018.
Students grieving for slain classmates prepared for an emotional return Wednesday to their Florida high school, where a mass shooting shocked the nation and led teen survivors to spur a growing movement to tighten America’s gun laws. The community of Parkland, Florida, where residents were plunged into tragedy two weeks ago, steeled itself for the resumption of classes at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where nearby flower-draped memorials and 17 white crosses pay tribute to the 14 students and three staff members who were murdered by a former student.
/ AFP PHOTO / RHONA WISE (Photo credit should read RHONA WISE/AFP/Getty Images)
PARKLAND, FL – FEBRUARY 28: Students wait at a crosswalk as they arrive to attend classes at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School for the first time since the shooting that killed 17 people on February 14 at the school on February 28,2018 in Parkland, Florida.
