'Courageous': Florida passes gun reform bill three weeks after massacre

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This was published 6 years ago

'Courageous': Florida passes gun reform bill three weeks after massacre

Florida legislators, spurred by last month's deadly high school shooting, have passed a raft of new laws to raise the legal age for buying rifles, impose a three-day waiting period on all gun sales and allow the arming of some school employees.

Swift action in the Republican-controlled statehouse, where the National Rifle Association (NRA) has long held sway, was propelled in large part by the extraordinary lobbying efforts of young survivors from the massacre three weeks ago at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.

It governor Rick Scott signs it, it will be the first successful gun control measure in Florida in more than 20 years.

But the legislation, while containing a number of provisions student activists and their parents from Parkland had embraced, left out one of their chief demands - a ban on assault-style weapons like the one used in the February 14 rampage.

The bill, which passed in a narrow 67-50 vote, signalled a possible turning point in the national debate between gun control advocates and proponents of firearms rights enshrined in the Second Amendment of the US Constitution.

Students from Marjory Douglas Stoneman High School have led large protests against gun violence.

Students from Marjory Douglas Stoneman High School have led large protests against gun violence.Credit: Bloomberg

Here's what is and isn't included in the final bill.

What the bill does

  • Raise the minimum age. The bill would change the minimum age for all gun purchases to 21 from 18 — a provision that would have prohibited the Parkland gunman, Nikolas Cruz, 19, from legally buying the rifle he used in his massacre. Under federal law, people can't buy handguns until they are 21 but can buy shotguns and rifles at 18.
  • Create a waiting period. Prospective gun buyers would have to wait three days, or until a background check is completed, whichever is longer. There would be some exceptions, including for police officers, members of the military, licensed hunters and licensed concealed carriers.
  • Ban bump stocks. Bump stocks are devices that can be attached to rifles to enable them to fire faster. They came to public attention in October, after a gunman in Las Vegas used them to kill 58 people and wound hundreds; with the devices, his semi-automatic weapons were able to fire almost as fast as fully automatic machine guns. After that massacre, the NRA said it supported a national ban but the proposal languished in Congress.
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  • Arm school employees. Perhaps the most controversial provision of the bill is one that would allow superintendents and sheriffs to arm school personnel - a measure not requested by the Parkland students but long desired by the NRA, which argues that gun-free zones prevent people from defending themselves in an attack. The bill would create a $US86 million "marshal" program under which certain employees - including counsellors, coaches and librarians, but not full-time classroom teachers - could be trained and armed.
  • Fund school security. The bill allocates millions of dollars to make buildings more secure and to hire more school-based police officers. However, when the Parkland shooting happened, an armed school resource officer was present, standing by the door to the building, and did not enter.
  • Expand mental health services and regulations. Florida school districts would receive state funding to provide mental health care to students. Additionally, the bill would allow the police to temporarily confiscate guns from anyone subject to involuntary psychiatric evaluation. It would also prohibit gun sales to those committed to mental institutions or deemed mentally incompetent by a judge, and would allow the police - with judicial approval - to bar a person deemed dangerous from owning guns for up to a year.
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What it doesn't do

  • Ban assault weapons. One of the biggest demands of the Parkland students was a ban on assault weapons. A federal ban that was in place from 1994 to 2004 applied to semi-automatic weapons with two or more of a list of specific features (for example, a telescoping stock and a pistol grip). In polls, majorities support banning them.
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  • Suspend AR-15 sales. Once it became clear that a majority of the Florida Legislature was not inclined to ban all assault weapons, Senator Oscar Braynon, a Democrat, proposed an amendment to the gun control bill that would have halted AR-15 sales for two years. The AR-15 and its variants have become the weapons of choice for many mass shooters. Braynon's amendment was rejected.
  • Ban high-capacity magazines. The bill does not ban high-capacity magazines, which can hold as many as 100 rounds. These magazines allow gunmen to shoot more people in less time, because they do not have to stop to reload as often. Like a ban on assault weapons, this is a proposal with widespread public support.
  • Strengthen background checks. Changes to background check procedures have received bipartisan support since the Parkland shooting, including from Trump, but the Florida bill does not address them. Federal law requires background checks for gun sales by licensed dealers, but there are holes in the system. For example, private firearm sales are not always subject to checks and the Sutherland Springs church shooter had domestic violence convictions that weren't entered into a federal database.

The bill represented both a break with the NRA on gun sale restrictions and a partial acceptance of its proposition that the best defence against armed criminals is the presence of "good guys with guns."

President Donald Trump congratulated legislators for passing "some very good" reforms and attempted to take some credit for them.

"I guess they've been listening to me a lot more because, unexpectedly, they passed conceal carry for some very special teachers that have a great ability with weapons," he said. "I guess they liked what I said."

The families of Parkland victims applauded the passing of legislation and the state legislators who "courageously voted against their own political self-interest to do the right thing for the safety of our schools".

Florida would join at least six other states - Georgia, Kansas, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Wyoming - with laws allowing school employees to carry firearms in public schools.

President Donald Trump had voiced support for arming teachers as a deterrent to school gun violence, though many parents, law enforcement officials and policymakers in both parties reject the idea.

"The thought of even one student being gunned down by the person responsible for educating and caring for them is just too much," Democrat congresswoman Amy Mercado said.

Scott told reporters he would "review the bill line by line" and consult with victims' families before deciding his position.

Reuters, New York Times

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