Gov. Rick Scott today signed a school safety and gun control bill that came in the wake of the Parkland shootings that killed 17 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
Gov. Rick Scott today signed a school safety and gun control bill that came in the wake of the Parkland shootings that killed 17 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
The announcement comes two days after the Florida House approved a bill in response to Florida’s third mass shooting since 2016 with a close 67-50 vote.
The bill includes language on procedures that would allow some teachers and staff to carry guns on campus. It also imposes a three-day waiting period for any gun purchase and raises the minimum legal age for buying all guns in Florida from 18 to 21.
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The half-billion dollar package, dubbed the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act, includes requirements for mental health and safety programs in schools.
These are the first gun control measures passed in Florida in the past 20 years.
But Democrats cried it wasn’t the legislation that Stoneman Douglas students wanted.
«They marched, protested, and started a movement — but this isn’t the legislation the students of Parkland so bravely fought for,» Florida Democratic Party Chair Terrie Rizzo said in a statement. «It doesn’t include key components like expanding universal background checks, an assault weapons ban, and it doesn’t even accomplish what Scott himself said he would do.»
