Republican Florida Gov. Rick Scott said Sunday his gun control proposals, including raising the minimum age to buy a rifle to 21, were “logical,” adding he believed in banning certain people from obtaining firearms.
“I’m not into banning, you know, specific weapons. I think what you need to do is ban specific people from having weapons,” Scott told “Fox News Sunday” in response to a question about why he was not considering stricter “assault weapon” regulations.
“Focus on the problem. We’ve got to focus on solutions that work — banning the people that are going to potentially cause the problems,” he continued.
Scott is pushing for a raft of other reforms during the last two weeks of the Florida state legislature’s current session in the wake of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, in which 17 people were killed in Parkland, Fla., on Valentine’s Day when Nikolas Cruz opened fire with a AR-15 style rifle.
Changes, such as prohibiting the sale of bump stocks, a red flag law that would allow families and law enforcement authorities to seek court orders to take guns away from mentally ill or violent people, $450 million to “harden” schools, and $50 million to invest in mental health, are among those being debated by state lawmakers.
Scott said his pivot away from stronger rhetoric in favor of the Second Amendment was because, as governor, he had to weigh individual rights.
“I think most members of the [National Rifle A agree with me: this is logical,” he said. “I’m sure there’s going to be some that disagree, but I’m a dad, I’m a granddad and I’m a governor. I want my state to be safe. I want every child to be in a safe environment when they’re trying to be educated.”
Scott reiterated his opposition to President Trump’s idea to arm teachers as part of his policy to “harden” schools, or making them less of an easy target to gunman.
He also said “a thorough investigation” would be conducted into the system failings that led to the shooting after it was revealed many people who knew Cruz warned authorities about the threat he posed.
In addition, it was reported Thursday a Broward County school resource officer did not enter school grounds and try to engage the shooter during the attack.
