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Florida Senate Backs Armed Teachers, Rejects Assault Weapons Ban
March 4, 2018
After hours of intense debate on a school-safety measure, Senate Democrats were unable Saturday to strip a controversial provision that would allow specially trained teachers to bring guns to schools or to add an assault-weapons ban demanded by survivors of last month’s mass shooting at a Broward County high school.
Democrats spent the rare Saturday floor session trying to amend the sweeping bill, hurriedly crafted by Republican leaders in response to the Feb. 14 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that left 14 students and three faculty members dead.
But outnumbered 23-15 in the Senate, and even with the frequent support of two Republicans, Democrats were only able to make marginal changes to the bill (SB 7026) aimed at making schools safer and keeping guns away from mentally ill people.
Much of the debate in the week since Republican leaders rolled out the package has centered on a proposed “school marshal” program. That program would allow specially trained teachers and other school workers, who would be deputized by local sheriffs, to carry guns to school.
Gov. Rick Scott is among critics — including the PTA, the union representing teachers, and many parents and students from Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High — who oppose the proposition.
Sen. Perry Thurston, a Fort Lauderdale Democrat who is chairman of the Florida Legislative Black Caucus, pleaded with senators to support an amendment that would have removed the marshal program from the bill, saying that it would further endanger minority children who are at risk of gun violence.
Black parents already must have “the talk” with their children about how to avoid getting into confrontations with law enforcement officers and how to keep interactions with police from escalating, Thurston said. That talk will have to begin earlier if teachers are allowed to be armed, he predicted.
“We can’t agree to that. No type of way. No form. No shape. This is a non-starter,” he said.
The Senate plan and a similar House proposal would allow school boards to decide whether they want to implement the marshal program. If school boards opt for the program, the House proposal would require sheriffs to participate, while the Senate proposal would not.
While being grilled by Democrats, Sen. Bill Galvano, the bill’s sponsor, said that the school-marshal plan “hasn’t just been drawn out of the air,” but was based on other programs in Florida and across the country.
“We’re seeking to transform school security in the state of Florida,” said Galvano, a Bradenton Republican who will take over as Senate president in November.
The marshal program would exist “in a new state of affairs,” based on other components of the bill, such as a new Office of School Safety within the Department of Education and requiring school-safety specialists and threat-assessment teams at the local level.
The legislation includes broad outlines for the marshal program, including the requirement of at least 132 hours of training and psychological screening, but would leave up to sheriffs and school districts details such as what types of guns could be used and where they would be stored, Galvano said.
That means parents, students and others would have no way of knowing which teachers might be armed, Sen. Audrey Gibson, D-Jacksonville, said.
“We will have no clue in 67 counties in this state of what this marshal program looks like,” Gibson said. “We don’t need additional guns in schools. You don’t add fuel to a fire that’s already burning. It’s burning just fine on its own.”
But Senate Majority Leader Wilton Simpson argued that allowing teachers to carry guns would make students safer.
“We are many colors in this chamber. I would want a teacher to have the opportunity to stop an evil person from slaughtering children,” Simpson, R-Trilby, said. “But the only thing that’s going to stop a slaughter, in that moment, is if it’s fortunate enough to have a person in that room with a firearm. And the marshal program provides an opportunity, not a guarantee, for that to be done.”
The House and Senate packages have faced pushback from politicians on both ends of the gun-control spectrum.
Many House Republicans and the National Rifle Association are opposed to proposed regulations that would raise age requirements from 18 to 21 and impose a three-day waiting period for the purchase of rifles and other long guns. Proposals would also allow law enforcement officers to seize weapons from people who pose a danger to themselves or others and ban the sale of what are known as “bump stocks,” an idea also opposed by the NRA.
Democrats are frustrated because the proposals fail to include a ban on assault-style weapons such as the semi-automatic rifle used by 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz, a former Marjory Stoneman Douglas student charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder after the nation’s second-worst school shooting.
Survivors of the shooting, parents of slain students and high schoolers from across the state have flooded the Capitol since the Valentine’s Day shooting, with the vast majority seeking a ban on assault weapons.
The students asked lawmakers “to do one thing: make school shootings and assault weapons a thing of the past,” said Sen. Linda Stewart, an Orlando Democrat who offered an amendment Saturday that sought to ban them.
“Assault weapons are really killing machines. They are not rifles, and they are not guns that we use to protect our homes and go hunting,” she said at the end of an hourlong debate on her amendment.
Immediately after the amendment failed in a 20-17 vote, Senate President Joe Negron ordered a moment of silence as requested by Scott for the entire state on the 17th day after the 17 Parkland students and faculty were killed.
Senate Minority Leader Oscar Braynon, a member of the black caucus, conceded Saturday that the ban on assault weapons was “too divisive” for the GOP-dominated Legislature.
“It splits us down the middle, and it’s not the time to do that right now. This is the time to come together,” Braynon, D-Miami Gardens, said.
But he beseeched his colleagues to support a proposed amendment doing away with the marshal program, saying lawmakers need more time to explore the issue.
“This is an important piece of legislation that we’ve put together in a week. We can all get behind (it) if we don’t have something like this in it that splits us down the middle,” Braynon said. “Why would we take this moment when we need to come together … to almost tear us apart as a body?”
After nearly eight hours of debate on the attempted amendments, Sen. Tom Lee proposed removing the most-controversial portions of the bill: the marshal program and the new restrictions on the purchase of long guns.
Lee, a former Senate president, said lawmakers have consensus on two issues — keeping guns out of the hands of mentally ill people and school hardening.
The “gun control and that marshal plan are for a bumper sticker in November,” Lee, R-Thonotosassa, said.
“They’re going to do nothing. Neither one of them,” he said. Lee’s proposal to remove the issues failed.
by Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida
Comments
24 Responses to “Florida Senate Backs Armed Teachers, Rejects Assault Weapons Ban”
Well Lets see! Try to take this country and we shall see how disorganized we are. That disorganized force overthrew the redcoats and established this country
REGARDING:
“I’m not trying to down play the tragedy of school shootings; just trying to understand why some lives, and causes of their demise, are more important than others.”
Visibility and certainty. When you see dead children lying down killed by someone with a gun, you know they were living, breathing, talking running, laughing just minutes before.
When you are told a few ounces of tissue inside a woman was a person, you are not as certain and you question if the woman saw it as you do, since she is the one who chose to kill it and she is the one who risks death by carrying it. Well, you are certain, but not all are.
DUI is forgiven by many because they think everybody drives around impaired just like they do. Therefore, they don’t worry about anything called equivalent to DUI, such as texting while driving. (Actually, just talking to others in the same car distracts you from your driving just as much as cell phone calls or texting. The slight difference is that your hands are usually free when driving and talking. You have probably talked to others while driving.)
David for understanding.
REGARDING:
“The largest Army in the world is not the US Military. It is the American hunter/sportsman/gun owner.”
Actually, it isn’t. Yes, there are many armed Americans, but guns do not an army make.
1. an organized military force equipped for fighting on land.
2. the branch of a nation’s armed services that conducts military operations on land.
3. a large number of people or things, typically formed or organized for a particular purpose.
ORGANIZED is very important.
An organized force has many times defeated a disorganized force many times its size.
David for organization
Correction! The gun killed my relative but the mentally deranged individual pulled the trigger. He is still out there with his gun.
Someone close to me died last spring from a gun. That person had a permit to carry. Unfortunately they were not carrying that day or they might still be alive and the perpetrator might have met his maker
The largest Army in the world is not the US Military. It is the American hunter/sportsman/gun owner. The second largest Army is Minnesota/Wisconsin gun owners.. That is why gun ownership is so important. No one could overthrow America unless our complacency gets in our way. Gun ownership is a responsibility . Living in rural areas makes it more important, Law Enforcement only becomes an after the fact note taker or report analyst. LE is stretched by distance and the crime is over by the time they arrive. Makes an AR 15 a little more important. if your life is at stake you cant wait for LE.
Need to insure that disturbed persons are getting medical attention and take their weapons until they become responsible again.
Let’s think about the scenario of one kid beating the tar out of another kid in the classroom. Teacher fears for the beaten one’s life, pulls the trigger and kills the aggressor.
Or
Student jumps on teacher (which is NEVER okay) in a class full of students. Teacher says that they feared for their life, pulls sidearm and kills aggressive student in the classroom.
Or
Teacher draws sidearm during same scenario but instead negligently discharges firearm and kills an innocent student in the classroom.
Teachers aren’t cops, marshals or peace officers.
@Kate
The fact of the matter is Kate, if a majority of people were like you and didn’t care about our individual rights, you would’ve voted them out long ago. See, part of the right to bear arms is to defend yourself against a government overstepping it’s power. The first thing a communist government will do is confiscate firearms. Kind of like smokers. They went from smoking anywhere in a restaurant to their own section, to outside, to down the street, etc. Little by little. If it were all at once there’d be a problem. Eventually you people will win by tech addiction.
Let’s look at this logically. If an active shooter appeared in the doorway of your child’s classroom and the teacher shot them dead with his/her weapon, stopping them in their tracks, I bet you’d change your opinion about teachers being for teaching only. That ship sailed a long time ago and teachers today do so much more than just teach.
I’ve been a teacher for 34 years. I’ve also been in law enforcement for 20. I’d much rather NOT have to carry a weapon on my person to be safe, but since it’s been shown time and again that advertising schools as gun free zones has resulted in these mass shootings, I’d rather have my weapon on my person in a legal, prescribed way so that I, and my students, at least stand a chance should something like this happen in NW Florida. BTW – I’ve been through an “active shooter” scenario in the past 3 years when it was reported that someone with a rifle had scaled the fence of our prison and was in the area. It’s scary, but as long as the protocols are followed, things don’t normally get out of hand and the shooter is contained and/or killed. It turned out to be nothing, but the reaction was still the same.
Where are the standing the gap for the unborn? Millions of babies killed by “choice”. Where is the outcry against tobacco? Where is the indignation about cell phone induced distracted driving? More lives are lost every day to just these causes than the lives lost in a year from “assault rifles”.
Common sense should dictate that murdering babies should be outlawed, tobacco should be a controlled substance and driving while texting should have the same legal consequences as DUI.
I’m not trying to down play the tragedy of school shootings; just trying to understand why some lives, and causes of their demise, are more important than others.
I want to praise Senator Thruston for validating these axiomatic paradigms, regarding the “talk”.
Sounds like common sense prevailed. Now lets harden school campus
The same day as the horrible Florida school shooting, a man came into a church in Texas with 100 members present when he threatened to hold them at gunpoint when a church member wrestled the man and got the gun away, only to have a responding LEO shoot the church member who had just disarmed the bad guy. We have seen LEO hide, we have seen LEO hesitate, and now they shoot the guy who saved lives, and we think more people who do not have the level of training that LEO does, and who must retrain frequently is going to be a better solution than keeping the schools locked tight with security stations at least 100 feet outside the locked front door. Video, intercoms, and strict entry protocols and a gun does NOT get into a school. I have no problem with a rotating school resource officer (leo), and signage stating that personnel are armed in front of the outside security station, but assigning armed teachers or LEO to every school before we have secured the entry into schools seems to be a political priority and not a common sense solution to improved school safety.
Teachers are for teaching in schools only. No one should be chosen to guard students if their are on any drug, prescribed or otherwise. I refuse to pretty this comment up using the word meds. They are drugs!
These kids were not blown away by anyone in Northwest Fl either. We have but one agenda and that is keeping students safe.
Good! @ SF – Kate drank the koolaide a long time ago
.
@ Kate….The NRA accepts no tax payers money, and sells no arms, but represents millions of law abiding citizens.
However, organizations such as Planned Parenthood does accept tax payers money, and sells arms (and other body parts.) It readily accepts support from the Democratic party.
@Kate Are you kidding?? Wild wild west? If that is what you think then you can thank all the liberal policies we have. The NRA is protecting the rights of LAW ABIDING CITIZENS. We have a whole generation of people now that have no respect for laws or other citizens. I don’t see how bans and more laws help the good citizens of this country whatsoever! Please use some common sense and put blame where it belongs.
Armed and trained teachers in our schools, why would any reasonable person be against that? What is there to lose? More students, that’s what. Moreover the pain and hurt, anger and frustration of the families of the slain students should be directed to the pathetic agencies that had a gazillion red flags concerning the shooter, but did nothing!
As predicted, politics steered the focus on guns, and is not telling you how many of these school shooters were on physcoactive drugs, and disaster waiting to happen.
The media today is not interested in telling the real truth with honest investigative reporting, just following their own blind political agenda.
Doing the same thing over and over is the definition of insanity. Armed Leo failed on the most recent incident, and twenty years earlier failed at columbine. How do these gunman get into schools? Locked and secure schools with proper perimeter monitors do not have to become the wild west. Why do we open the doors to a school and let folks into the secure envelope before going through metal detection? Video security, bullet proof front doors, and simple intercom communication by somebody other than an armed guard. Why should taxpayers spend more money on what has been repeatedly found to be ineffective when it is like going home and opening my front door and going to bed only to find somebody walked in and committed a crime. Would my response be to hire an armed guard to sit in my living room, or lock, install video security, and make my house secure from unauthorized folks entering the same…….why do politics have to interfere with common sense. Keep our children safe without bankrupting taxpayers.
I have had children and grand children in Florida’s schools for 34 years. There are a few teachers with mental health issues. I could ramble on. I could site 2 innocents that would convince everyone that this is a bad idea.
How does our Legislature plan to go about “…keeping guns out of the hands of mentally ill people…”?
Last thing I heard is it’s against the law to “label” people according to their handicap or illness.
How would a firearm seller know if a person making a purchase were mentally ill or not? I don’t think an individual’s personal identification card or driver license has a slot for Mentally Ill but it does note if you need to wear glasses.
Not all who shoot innocents are “mentally ill”. Remember the 2009 murder of 13 US troops at Ft. Hood, Texas by a US Army Major who was a psychologist? He had become “radicalized” and was not found to be mentally ill.
People kill People, to ban guns is like banning all box trucks because some nut drove one into a crowded sidewalk and murdered innocents.
Our legislature has jumped onto the bandwagon for purely political reasons.
My heart breaks for the kids and families and circles of others impacted by the latest mass shooting. Hold the shooter accountable and responsible.
Seems like a good bill to me. Anything democrats are against i am for.
So we are back to the wild unsettled west with Florida Government. I don’t care who you are the biggest man hunting deer or bear or the most petite teacher; you must have the training and competence to use a gun in a classroom. Bought off by the NRA.
Just so you know senator Thurston most white parents have the talk with our kids also about how to avoid confrontation with police we tell them do what the police say talks over. And if your worried about that talk with your children concerning the armed teachers tell them do what the teachers say talks over. Pretty simple parenting really.