Going forward the purchase and possession of AR-15s will continue to be legal in Florida, so long as the individual looking to have the rifle is over the age of 21 and hasn't been diagnosed with a mental health illness. In addition, educators who teach in the state will now be able to carry firearms in the workplace, should legislation approved by the Senate on Monday, February 26, make it past the House Rules Committee for a final vote in the days to come.
Last week Governor Rick Scott announced a mix of proposals and budgetary items that he would be pressing lawmakers to pass in the aftermath of the mass shooting in Parkland. Among them was a proposition to tighten background checks so that mental illness is better screened, and a plan to raise the legal age of gun ownership. During the press conference that he held in order to publicize the actions he was looking to take, however, Scott did definitively break from Trump on the idea of arming teachers. Instead, Scott said that he wants to increase the number of security personnel in each school building.
After debating the package for more than two hours, the Senate Rules Committee struck compromises to indeed raise the legal age to 21, and not only will mental health checks become more stringent - citizens whose struggles with mental illness are documented will be stripped of their weapons.
Where it appears that Scott may not have gotten his way, however, is in the department of school safety, should the SRC's permission for teachers to strap up carry through. What's more, anti-gun activists voiced their condemnation of the committee's 7-6 vote to strike down a bill that would have banned assault weapons in the state.
Source: nypost.com