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Tragedy at the Stoneman Douglas high school was one of Florida’s grave mass shootings to have ever happened in recent times. The high school incident and subsequent demonstrations to call on stricter gun control laws have forced many Republicans to reconsider their stand on gun laws. The debate on stricter gun controls versus the Second Amendment is a long-standing argument that has gone on for long in American politics. The Republicans traditionally are for the Second Amendment while the Democrats advocate for stricter gun laws.

The Florida House narrowly passed the new gun law reforms on Monday elevating the bill to Rick Scott’s level where he is expected to sign off into law. The House vote was 67-50 barely passing the required threshold as well as implying how divergent the views of Democrats and Republicans on the bill were.

Proposed Changes to Gun Laws

It has been a grueling three weeks for legislators as they heeded to pressure from the public to act on the Florida high school tragedy and correct loopholes that may have existed in gun control regulations. The loopholes may have led to the tragedy and as such, it was the publics’ outcry to amend the laws with an objective of preventing a repeat of the mass shooting in a different school.

The bill comprised of different amendments and proposals that could assist averting such a tragedy. One of the amendments is that the gun buying age should be reviewed from 18 to 21 years of age. Nikolas Cruz, the 18-year-old shooter at the high school would not have had access to an assault rifle he purchased and used it to commit the crime. The bill proposes that school staff and teachers be allowed to carry guns in schools. The move will help the staff protect their students from a threat.

Other provisions in the bill include creating a mental program for students in school to be able to tame behaviors that could lead to violent tendencies attributed to Cruz’s behavior that led him to be expelled from his former school (Stoneman Douglas High School). The bill sets out to ban gun bump stocks and create an anonymous tip line that will assist students to report threats in their schools.

Rick Scotts’ Statement

Scott is against the provision that would allow the arming of teachers and staffers in schools. In a statement to reporters on Wednesday, he stated that he is going to take his time to read the bill and consult with families before deciding on whether to sign the bill or not.

His proposal to remedy a school threat was to have at least one law enforcement officer present at each and every school.