Florida House Votes To Place New Restrictions On Rifle Sales

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — As students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School were getting home from their first full day of classes, the Florida House approved new restrictions on rifle sales and other changes in a state that has seen three mass shootings since 2016. The legislation has already won approval by the state Senate and now goes to Gov. Rick Scott for his signature. Seventeen students and faculty members were killed at the high school exactly three weeks ago by a gunman wielding an AR-15 assault rifle.

The new school safety bill would also arm some teachers and school employees, provide new mental health programs from schools and improve communication between school districts, law enforcement and state agencies.

House members spent hours asking questions about the legislation called the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Public Safety Act before passing it by a vote of 67 to 50.

Students’ anger at the availability of guns, access to weapons by the mentally ill and school safety spurred lawmakers to act.

Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith said polls show there’s little support for arming teachers, yet overwhelming support for an assault rifle ban.

“So what do we have before us today? A proposal that arms teachers and does not ban military-style assault weapons,” Smith said. “This is why people are so fed up with politics.”

Several black lawmakers expressed concern that African-American students would be more likely to be accidentally shot by a school employee.

“This is a dangerous bill for people of color, particularly, I believe, young black and brown boys, young black and brown girls, black and brown teachers, males and females. I think there will be some unintended consequences that are deadly and dangerous,” Democratic Rep. Cynthia Stafford said.

Republican Rep. Elizabeth Porter lashed back at that idea.

“I’ve heard that all of a sudden the folks that have been proponents of teachers all these years are saying that teachers are now incompetent ... they’re racist, they’re bigoted, they’re going to target black boys and brown boys. I don’t think that’s our teachers at all,” Porter said.

Porter also criticized her colleagues who’ve said that lawmakers should listen to the Stoneman Douglas students who took buses to Tallahassee and lobbied for gun safety legislation.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Photo by Paul Scicchitano