School safety proposals: Gov. Rick Scott and legislative leaders present their plans to bolster security in the state's schools. Both plans would boost the age for buying guns to 21. Scott's plan, which he estimates would cost $500 million, would also ban bump stocks, an accessory that converts semi-automatic rifles into automatic; allow authorities or relatives to take guns from mentally unstable people without first having them committed; require people who are committed under the Baker Act to surrender their guns for at least 60 days; provide more access to mental health counseling; put at least one armed guard at every public and charter school, including one for every 1,000 students; assign a Department of Children and Families case manager to law enforcement officials in all 67 counties; conduct active shooter drills in every school; and require state-approved school safety plans. The legislative plan also proposes a three-day waiting period for gun purchases, a program to train and arm teachers in the classroom, and a requirement that a person be Baker Acted before his or her weapons could be confiscated. Neither plan calls for a ban on assault weapons. Sun-Sentinel. Tampa Bay Times. News Service of Florida. Tallahassee Democrat. Politico Florida. Orlando Sentinel. Associated Press. Palm Beach Post. Florida Times-Union. Broward County School Superintendent Robert Runcie pleads with legislators to not put guns into the hands of teachers. Miami Herald.
Queries into shootings: Gov. Rick Scott is asking the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate the response by Broward County authorities to the shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland on Feb. 14. The Broward County Sheriff's Office is also investigating claims from another law enforcement agency that three other deputies waited outside the school during the shooting. Sheriff Scott Israel insists just one deputy was at the school during the shootings. Sun-Sentinel. Sun-Sentinel. Miami Herald. Associated Press. Palm Beach Post. Israel is rejecting a call to resign because of the problems in his department's response to the shootings. Dozens of Republican state representatives are urging Gov. Scott to replace Israel. Sun-Sentinel. Miami Herald. WPEC. CNN. Time. Officers are trained to “move to the sound of gunfire quickly and stop it” in school shooting scenarios, say law enforcement experts. Sun-Sentinel.
