Florida Governor Rick Scott signs school safety bill to arm some teachers, fund mental health

In his office packed with reporters and some family members of the victims of the Parkland shooting, Gov. Rick Scott signed into law school safety legislation that seeks to beef up protection for students by allowing some school employees to be armed, and pay for more school resources officers.

Dubbed the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act, the half-billion dollar package is threefold, addressing gun laws, school safety and mental health.

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, raises the minimum legal age for buying all guns in Florida from 18 to 21, and includes stricter gun ownership measures for those with mental health problems.

Just over an hour after the bill signing, the National Rifle Association filed a lawsuit in federal court to block it.

Scott commended several aspects of the school safety bill, including its requirement of having more law enforcement present in schools, mental health services and bump stock bans.

“However, there are things in this bill that I oppose, and I’ve been open about that,” said Scott. The three-day waiting period for gun purchases “wouldn’t have had an impact on this killer,” said Scott, referring to gunman Nikolas Cruz.

The governor has also been vocal about not arming teachers. But although the bill includes a voluntary guardian program, he signed it — for which he was criticized by Democrats including Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith of Orlando.

Instead, Scott said he would redirect unused funds for the program for more law enforcement officers and would give districts time to decide whether or not they want to use them.

“If counties do not want to do this, they can simply say no,” he said.

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The legislation also orders school districts and sheriffs to cooperate to have either a school marshal or a sheriff deputy or school resource officer on every public school campus.

“I still think law enforcement officers should be the ones to protect our schools,” he said. “I’ve heard all the arguments for teachers to be armed, and while this bill was significantly changed on this topic, I am still not persuaded.”

Some of the largest school districts in the state including Broward, Duval, Hillsborough, Palm Beach, Seminole, Miami-Dade, Pasco, and Pinellas school districts, as well as Leon, say they will not allow staff or teachers to carry guns.

The signing came 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 legislation is the first gun control measure passed in Florida in the past 20 years.

Reacting to the legislation, Democrats said it doesn’t include measures Stoneman Douglas students wanted — such as an assault weapons ban.

Responding to a reporter's question Friday afternoon, Scott restated his opposition to such a move.

"I've been clear — I think. rather than banning specific weapons. we need to ban specific people from having any weapons."

After the signing, the Florida Democratic Party reiterated its opposition to the bill, which was touted as bipartisan since it passed both chambers with GOP and Democratic votes. FDP chair Terrie Rizzo said the governor and Legislature didn't go nearly far enough.

"It was 612 days between Pulse and Parkland, and Rick Scott and Tallahassee Republicans did nothing — and this legislation falls short of correcting that negligence," Rizzo said. "Instead of setting aside his self-serving politics and taking serious action to make Floridians safer from gun violence, Scott has demonstrated once again why Floridians don’t trust him to look out for anyone but himself.”

After Scott's announcement, two fathers of slain Stoneman Douglas students spoke about their support of the bill.

Tony Montalto, father of 14-year-old Gina who was killed during the Feb. 14 massacre, said he and other victims' families are "pleased" with the legislation and with Scott's support of it, saying it's a "first step" for school safety.

"We have paid a terrible price for this progress," he said, adding emphatically, "This time must be different."

Another grieving father, Andrew Pollack, added his remarks as he stood beside his son. Pollack lost his daughter Meadow.

"I wish I could tell you that I'm happy," he said with tearful eyes. "How could we be happy? He buried his sister and I buried my daughter. To me, this is a start for us."

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